Ace of Hearts
by squirtle10
Summary: Naminé moves to Destiny Islands, where she starts her third year of high school, and begins on a promised journey. Little did she know that her journey would become part of a bigger one, where past memories would be unlocked, fears will be faced, and the heart will be the ace of the game. (Title was Breaking Free)
1. A New Start

**So this is my first time writing a Kingdom Hearts fanfic and I apologize if the characters… are a little out of character. And also, this is AU.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts…. I only wish**

**Enjoy~!**

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**Ch.1: A New Start**

**Monday: September 12**

Summer was over, which meant school was ready to start once more. It was a new day, a new year, full with unexpected twists and surprises. Three teenage girls walked their way to school, two of the young gilrs wondering how things will change with the new addition to their group of friends.

"Are you sure you don't mind?" a young blond asked, looking at the ground as she walked. She held on to the straps of her white backpack, as if getting ready to hear the worst of news.

"Of course not! You're our cousin, and we don't want to leave you alone," the red-headed girl on her right replied.

"She's right Naminé. We can't leave you alone. It's no bother at all. We're happy you're with us," the black-haired girl on her left responded.

Naminé looked up and saw the reassuring smiles on their face. Kairi and Xion looked the same when they smiled, but that what was expected since they were twins. The only difference was Kairi had long red hair while Xion had short black hair. Their personalities were different too, except that they shared the same gentleness and protectiveness towards their friends and family.

Namine smiled back and nodded her head.

The girls kept walking towards their destination. Meanwhile, Xion and Kairi were giving little details about their friends and teachers. It was nice, the effort they were doing to make the poor girl calm down.

It would be a new school for Naminé. She had to transfer from Twilight Town to Destiny Islands for… personal reasons. She would be entering her third year in high school, along with her cousins.

They finally arrived to school ten minutes later. Naminé's heart was pounding and she was beginning to feel butterflies in her stomach, but she tried her best to calm down.

The girls weaved their way into the crowd and reached a table made out of cement that was colored black with light blue streaks. Next to the table was a huge oak tree that gave them protection from the sun.

"This is where we come during the breaks we have throughout school. It's easy to recognize this spot since it's the only table with an oak tree next to it," Kairi told Naminé.

"Why is it the only table decorated this way?" Naminé asked, as she looked around and noticed all the other tables were grey.

"Xion, why don't you explain," Kairi said, looking at Xion with a mixture of amusement and annoyance.

"Let's see if we can spot them from here," Xion replied, trying to change the conversation. She turned around, stood on the tips of her toes, and began looking through the crowd.

"I'll tell you later," Kairi whispered.

Naminé just nodded, curious as to why her cousin was avoiding the question.

"I see…. someone with silver hair coming our way… Oh it's Riku!"

"Is he with Sora?"

"Umm… Yea. He looks really happy."

"You're about to meet two of my best friends!" Kairi squealed, an exciting look flashing across her face.

Namine responded by hiding behind Kairi, whose excited face turned into one of sympathy.

"Hi Kairi. Hi Xion. Where have you two been!?" A tall young man with spiky brown hair asked. He crossed his arms behind his head waiting for a respond from the two sisters.

"Who's the one hiding behind you Kairi?" The taller silver haired teenager asked, crossing his arms as he sent a piercing look to the young blond.

Xion stepped next to Riku in order to let Kairi introduced Naminé. She felt a little bad for exposing her cousin so early but she needed to break out from her shell, to be able to trust the people they trusted. She, as well for Kairi, knew they wouldn't hurt her. If they did… well they knew the consequences.

"This is Naminé. She's our cousin from Twilight Town. She's new here so be nice to her. Naminé, this is Sora and Riku," Kairi said gently.

"Hi, I'm Sora," the teen with the brown hair said, extending his hand with a bright smile.

Naminé, who still stood behind Kairi, took his hand and smiled, feeling a little bit braver from the warmth he was giving off.

"I'm Riku." He also extended his hand, with a small smile gracing his lips. She shook his hand as well, feeling a sense of protectiveness wash over her. She felt more confident and stood next to Kairi, who smiled in relaxation that her friends were quite welcoming to the quiet girl.

"You answered his question. So now mine. Where were you two?" Sora asked, a little pout on his face.

"Oh right, about that. We went to Tw-"

"Ah!" yelped Xion, as she felt a mysterious person lift her up and twirl her around.

Naminé's heart began to pound fast, but she looked around and notice that no one else was alarmed, so she forced herself to relax. A young blond with spiky hair was holding her cousin in his arms, twirling her around with a smile on his face. Naminé's fearful face turned one to confusion and curiosity.

_'I didn't know Xion…'_

"Haha Roxas, put me down!" Xion giggled.

Roxas did as she said and replied, "Where have you been? You disappeared a month before summer vacation ended and we couldn't contact you. Axel and I missed you."

"I didn't miss you. He's just saying that so he won't look like he was doing all the missing," a tall red-head with spiky hair replied in the background, stopping next to the young blond.

"Oh yea? Who was the one saying 'I can't wait for the three of us to have sea-salt ice cream again. I-umph!'"

Axel clamped Roxas mouth shut so he won't say anything else. Trying to shift the subject while controlling his blush he asked, "So where have you been Xion?"

"It's a long story, so I'll tell you two after school. But this can't wait."

Xion gently grabbed the blond girl by the arm and placed Naminé in front of her. "This is Naminé, she's our cousin from Twilight Town. She's going to be staying with us from now on."

"Hi, I'm Axel. Got it memorized?" Axel winked while shaking Naminé 's hand. The young blond shied away and blushed.

"You're scaring her Axel. You scare everyone, actually. Got it memorized?" Kairi mocked, while pointing a finger to her head.

Axel turned to face Kairi and gave her a mock bow. "Sorry to upset you_ Princess_."

"Princess!?"

"Uh, hi. I'm Roxas. Nice to meet you," the blond said, as he held Axel back in order to prevent him from doing something else to make Kairi mad.

"Hi," Naminé smiled back.

_'He looks a little bit familiar... a little bit like Sora.'_

Roxas extended his hand, and she took it. Both held their grasp and gaze a little bit longer until Roxas pulled back.

"Hey Sora, Riku. I'll meet up with you two later. We need to find Demyx, if we don't…" He had a dark look on his face, but Riku and Sora understood. "Right, so I'll see you in break. Xion, see you in a little bit. Bye Kairi, Naminé."

He smiled and pulled Axel away, who was sending threatening looks to the other red-head, who did not waver in her hard look either.

"And you say I'm an idiot Riku," grumbled Sora.

Everybody heard and they began laughing, even Naminé giggled, although she only had a small idea what he meant. Xion and Kairi explained a little bit about their friends, but they are giving her the chance to know them more by herself. She was a little scared, but she knew she had to break free from her shyness, and she wasn't going to miss this opportunity.

"I should be heading to class. I don't want to be yelled at by Mr. Highwind for being late on the first day of school. I also want to get a seat in the back, just in case," Riku added as an afterthought. He waved goodbye and left to his class.

"Right, so which class do you girls have?" Sora asked.

"I have P.E. with Tifa. Naminé has cooking with Aerith. Xion has… a meeting she has to go to."

"I have cooking with Aerith too!" the brunette yelled, an eager look on his face. "We can walk together to class."

"That's a good idea. Naminé, you can walk with Sora and you two can get to know each other better… Are you ok with that?" Kairi asked, concerned about leaving her alone with Sora.

Naminé smiled and nodded. "It's fine, don't worry."

"Alright. Well… we all should be heading to class. If I don't have you for any classes before break, I'll see you here," Kairi replied.

Xion and Kairi hugged Naminé, said goodbye to Sora, and went on their way.

"Ready?" Sora asked, a big smile on his face.

"Yea," Naminé answered with her own smile.

She grabbed the straps from her white backpack and followed Sora towards their class. It was a sunny day, a new day, and she was beginning to feel like she was finally home.

_'I hope it stays this way.'_

"Come on! Before the good seats get taken," Sora urged.

He grabbed her hand and sped up, going through the crowd with ease. She blushed, but she felt safe and the same warmth when they shook hands. She picked up her speed and allowed Sora to lead her towards their classroom. She smiled, hoping her luck wouldn't change. She looked up to the sky and the sun's light shined bright, the light giving her courage and hope.

_'I'll try... this time I'll try'_

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**I will be adding some Final Fantasy Characters. Mr. Highwind is Cid. Riku was being respectful, and well, the man is kind but hot-headed and a smoker, hence why he didn't want to be late and sit in the back.**

**I also will be adding other Kingdom Heart characters in my story as well.**

_**Princess**_** for Kairi is self-explanatory (if no then play the games or look it up or message me :D and/or I will probably include it here too but it won't be considered cannon as to why she is a princess). Why the small hostility between Axel and Kairi…. well because of KH 2 and I'll throw something in my story as well. No, this is not a **_**XionxRoxas**_** fanfic, they are best friends… again explained in the games and later in my story as well.**

**Review, favorite, follow, tell me what you think, what should I correct and improve on, but I will not allow any comments that are flames. There is a difference.**

**I am not sure how much I will update this so I apologize in advance. I am working in another fanfic for pokemon which I am working on so I also apologize for that… writing block sucks!**


	2. Jack of Hearts

**As you can see I changed the title from "Breaking Free" to "Ace of Hearts" I do not plan on changing the title so this will be permanent!**

**Also, there are three A/N's (author notes), and the '*' is explained in the 1st A/N so please read that, as well for the other two :)**

**Anyways, enough of this blabber... until the end that is... ENJOY!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts**

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**This is before and after Axel and Roxas meet with Xion.**

**Ch.2: Jack of Hearts**

"Roxas! Wait up!"

Roxas sighed and stopped walking, waiting for his friend to catch up.

"Sheesh Roxas. I never seen you so excited for school before," Axel said once he reached the blond.

As both teens began walking side to side, Roxas replied, "I'm not excited for school. We'll finally be able to see Xion."

"Oh, right. _Xion,_" Axel teased.

"Shut up. You know you missed her too," Roxas declared.

Axel laughed and pushed his friend. Roxas pushed him back, laughing as well.

They kept walking towards their school, laughing and talking about what happened during the summer. Their laughter settled down after a few minutes, their footsteps making the only sound.

"What's wrong?"

"What?" Roxas jumped.

"You're wondering something. Come on, spit it out. It's been bothering me for five minutes."

Roxas was surprised his friend noticed his quiet mood. After recovering from his shock, he asked, "Do you remember what Luxord said yesterday?"

"No. I was too busy playing against him in his own game. I swear, that man cheats."

"You're just saying that because you always lose," Roxas claimed in a matter-of-fact voice. "I can beat him with a blindfold on."

Axel snorted, replying, "Yea, whatever."

Roxas laughed until Axel gave him the 'shut-up-and-tell-me' look.

He cleared his throat and continued. '"Right. Well, when I arrived, he looked at me and said something about a new player being placed on the game board. Do you think that means someone new is joining the Organization?"

"Hmmm. I don't think so. Saïx didn't tell me anything. Not that he ever does now," Axel added as an afterthought. "He only addressed you and not everyone else, though."

"Well, if it's not the Organization, then what do you think he means?"

"I don't know. You shouldn't listen to everything that man says. He isn't always 100% right you know."

"He proved _you_ wrong. Remember Axel? I told you many times and you didn't want to listen to me! You heard what he said. And it came out true, didn't it?"

Axel began to scratch his head, trying to think of a good comeback while fighting the blush that threatened to expose his embarrassment. It was usually Roxas that was exposed to humiliation because he was naïve in certain subjects, but this was one subject Axel _knew_ he would be right in. Turned out Roxas proved him wrong, which made Axel feel embarrassed in front of the Organization _and_ his group of friends.

"Axel, we're here."

"Huh?"

"Come on, let's look for Xion!"

"Roxas, wait!"

Axel sighed and followed his friend through the gate entrance of their school. He already knew where he was heading towards to, so he didn't need to pick up his speed.

_'That boy is fast.' _

Seeing Roxas run towards their usual spot to meet Xion made him chuckle.

_'I still think I'm right.'_

Remembering his embarrassing episode, he sped up his walking in order to not bring back that conversation up again. He didn't want to face his defeat against Roxas for a second time. Especially not in front of his friends again.

A few feet away, he saw Roxas pick up Xion and spin her around. A smile appeared on his face, happy to be able to have his two best friends with him again. As he got closer, he heard Roxas say how both of them missed her.

_'Oh, no. Not this time.'_

"I didn't miss you. He's just saying that so he won't look like he was doing all the missing." Axel said, a smirk on his lips.

"Oh yea? Who was the one saying 'I can't wait for the three of us to have sea-salt ice cream again. I-umph!'"

Axel clamped Roxas mouth shut so he won't say anything else. Trying to shift the subject while controlling his blush,_ again_, he said, "So where have you been Xion?"

"It's a long story, so I will tell you two after school. But this can't wait."

Xion gently grabbed the blond girl by the arm and placed her in front of her. "This is Naminé, she's our cousin from Twilight Town. She's going to be staying with us from now on."

"Hi, I'm Axel. Got it memorized?" Axel winked while shaking Naminé 's hand. The young blond shied away and blush.

"You're scaring her Axel. You scare everyone, actually. Got it memorized?" Kairi mocked, while pointing a finger to her head.

Axel turned to face Kairi and gave her a mock bow. "Sorry to upset you _Princess_."

"Princess!?"

"Uh, hi. I'm Roxas. Nice to meet you," the blond said, as he held Axel back in order to prevent him from doing something else to make Kairi mad.

"Hi," Naminé smiled back.

Roxas extended his hand, and she took it. Both held their grasp and gaze a little bit longer until Roxas pulled back.

_'Oh, what's this?'_

"Hey Sora, Riku. I'll meet up with you two later. We need to find Demyx, if we don't…" He had a dark look on his face, but Riku and Sora understood. "Right, so I'll see you in break. Xion, see you in a little bit. Bye Kairi, Naminé."

He smiled and pulled Axel away, who was sending threatening looks to the other red-head, who did not waver in her hard look either.

"Princess needs to call down," Axel said, once they were a good distance away from the group.

Not wanting to take sides, Roxas kept quiet. He didn't want Axel to be mad at him, and he also didn't want Kairi yelling at him why he chose Axel over her.

"Come, on. We need to find Demyx. I don't wait to get in trouble again."

Both friends kept walking, keeping their eyes open for a teen with dirty-blond hair carrying a blue sitar.

"Hey, Roxas?"

"Hmmm?"

"I saw that."

His friend stopped looking for Demyx and looked up at Axel, a confused look on his face.

"Don't make that face. I saw the way you were looking at her."

"Axel, how many times do I have to tell you there's nothing going on between Xion and me. Remember what Luxord said last year?"

_"You want to know what lies between you two?"_

_"Yes I do," Roxas said, a determined look on his face._

_"So be it."_

_Luxord pulled out his deck of cards and fanned them out on the table. He spread them out so the back of the cards were facing upwards, Everybody stopped what they were doing, even Zexion closed his book to watch what was going to unfold. Saïx kept staring out the window, giving the impression he was not paying attention. However, Axel saw the slightest movement of his head toward Roxas and Luxord. He smirked, and drifted his eyes to said pair._

_"Close your eyes and choose any card. Don't hesitate. Whatever card your hand lies on will be the card to determine your fate. Give it to me once you picked it up."_

_Roxas closed his eyes and took a deep breath. This was the only way to set things back to normal, to have his two best friends together back again... to have _**her**_ back again without any awkwardness. He guided his hand towards the table and picked up the first card he touched. Roxas stretched out his hand and Luxord took it._

_"Open your eyes."_

_Roxas opened his eyes and looked towards the card. Everybody was waiting for Luxord to show the card and say what it meant. _

_"It is… the 'Jack of Hearts.'"_

_Once he showed the card to Roxas, Luxord grabbed his playing cards and placed them back in his pocket._

_"So what does that mean, man?" Demyx asked, voicing the question in everybody's mind._

_After an agonizing pause, Luxord answered. "It means close friend."*_

_"Close… friends…" Roxas repeated slowly._

_Luxord nodded, a small smile on his face._

_"See! I told you we were just friends!"_

_Axel was shocked by his friend's outburst, for it was usually Sora to yell out like that, not him. He was going to retort back, but he saw everybody else start to laugh. Even Saïx was chuckling at his misfortune._

"Xion left and went to Riku after you tried to get us together. We were close friend. We _are_ best friends." Roxas took a deep breath before continuing. "It didn't feel right, her being gone. It doesn't feel right if either, or even both of you, are gone."

Roxas felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up at Axel.

"Hey man, I'm sorry. I didn't think she was going to leave and run to Riku. I didn't mean to make things go that bad."

His friend sighed and said, "I know. For that, you owe us sea-salt ice cream whenever we ask."

"What?! That's every day!"

Roxas laughed and replied, "Yea, that's why."

"Fine. Whatever. But I wasn't talking about Xion."

Roxas stopped laughing and looked baffled.

"I saw the way you were looking at the new girl. You thought I wouldn't notice but I did."

"Axel, what are you talking about?"

"You held on to her hand for a while, and you didn't immediately look away."

Roxas rolled his eyes and began to look for their fellow member once more.

"Come on, we need to find Demyx."

Axel groaned and said, "I know, I know. That guy seriously needs to get it together."

Both kept walking through the crowd, hoping to spot the teen they have been searching for. However, Roxas wasn't able to get their conversation out of his head. Unable to clear his head, he decided to open up to Axel. He knows Axel is sorry about the incident, so perhaps this time he will think things through, like he has in the past.

"I feel like… I've seen her before."

Axel stopped walking and looked at his friend, waiting for him to continue.

"When I saw her, I felt like I met her a long time ago. I just… don't remember where or when."

"Are you sure you aren't confusing her with Xion? You said the same thing when we first met her."

The blond shook his head and said, "I know I did. But, her presence, I felt it somewhere before. I don't know why it felt like that, it just did."

Roxas looked up to the sky, as if it was going to bring down the answers he was searching for.

"Hmmm. You should ask your brother, to see if he remembers seeing her too."

His friend snorted at his idea. "Vanitas? You think he would even bother to tell me? If he knows, he wouldn't tell me in order to torture me."

Axel nodding in agreement. "Right, wrong idea. I'll ask Luxord if he knows something. Maybe," he added, "maybe, this is what he meant about the new player. He can even read what lies between you two."

"Wait, what?"

"Yea, if you two crossed paths once, then this is no coincidence. It's time to spread the flames of love. This time, it will be successful."

Roxas felt his face blush in embarrassment. He didn't mean for his friend to take his thoughts too seriously, not in this way. He needed to stop Axel before he did anything stupid again. It was too fast too soon, especially since it was the first day of school for the new girl. Kairi and Xion would surely go after him if they heard about this.

"Axel, no. Look, maybe he was right about the whole new player thing, but that doesn't mean anything else. I-"

"Demyx!"

Roxas turned around and saw the teen relaxing by the garden water fountain, playing his sitar without a care of his surroundings. Axel began walking towards him, who didn't notice the red-head approaching him.

"Come on, we have to go. We aren't getting into trouble because of you."

Axel grabbed Demyx ("Hey, let me go. I'll make it back in time, I promise!") by the shoulder and began to drag him away towards their meeting place.

"Roxas, let's go. I don't want to be late."

Roxas followed Axel, sighing in frustration. He couldn't talk about their dilemma in front of Demyx. He feared he would tell the whole Organization, maybe even the whole school if he got the chance.

_'I hope he forgets.'_

Axel turned around to look at Roxas and winked, a mischievous look on his face.

Roxas groaned in anger, pleading to the sky that Axel would keep his mouth shut throughout the whole day… throughout the whole year if he gets lucky.

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***A/N 1: I looked up the card meanings, and well, I ended up in a psychic page where they show the definition of the playing cards. I was curious and if I didn't find anything, I was going to make it up. But I did find something, so there you go!**

**A/N 2: My characters, mostly Roxas, Xion, and Axel will be portrayed more like the manga than the video games, so their nature will be a little bit more different, such as happier, curious, saying things (mostly Roxas) that he shouldn't, etc.**

**There will also be some scenes from the game/manga and some similar quotes too, so I hope you can find them!**

**Luxord will be making little cameos here and there. Why? Because I like him, along with Demyx. They are the only ones (other than the three: R, X, A) that are the least evil (in my eyes) and get along with X, A, and R.**

**I recommend the manga, but it is not complete yet. It's really good, and it will make you laugh, especially the expressions. Not to mention the Dusks… not going to say no more. So… READ THE MANGA!**

**A/N 3: I somewhat have an idea for ch.3 but I don't know when I'll upload it. So if it isn't anytime soon, I sincerely apologize. BUT when I upload ch.3, ch.4 will be uploaded soon after.**

**REVIEW, LIKE, FOLLOW, TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK!**


	3. Unforeseen Encounters

**Enjoy!**

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**Ch. 3: Unforeseen Encounters**

"Welcome to our cooking class," Sora said, as he and Naminé entered the Home Economics classroom.

The students turned around at his voice and began greeting him. Naminé hid behind Sora, a little surprised that everybody greeted him happily.

_'He _**is**_ a sweet guy after all,'_ Naminé thought as she looked at the ground, unaware of the person in front of them.

"Naminé, is that you?"

_'That voice… can it be?'_

She looked up, a surprised look on her face. In front of Sora was a heavy-set boy, his black hair pushed up by a white-and-black headband.

"Pence?"

"It is you!" the teen said, as he approached Naminé and gave her a hug.

Hugging him back, she asked, "What are you doing here?"

Pence let her go and motioned both of them to follow him. They settled themselves in front of a cooking station, taking out their notebooks and placing their backpacks inside the cupboard next to the oven.

"We moved here two years ago. I didn't know we were coming to Destiny Islands until we arrived. My dad moved us here without an explanation. What are you doing here?"

"I moved here with my cousins."

"Your cousins?"

"Xion and Kairi," responded Sora.

"Hmmm, now that I think about it, you do look like them. Well, I'm happy that you came here, Naminé. I thought that I would never see you again."

Naminé nodded and smiled in response. She was glad Pence hasn't changed in appearance, he was the same as how she remembered him. She was happier to know that he didn't ask her to explain the reason she moved to Destiny Islands, for he was one to wait patiently for an explanation.

_'I wonder if they are here too…'_

Before she could voice her thought, Sora asked, "So you two know each other from Twilight Town?"

Before Pence could answer his question, Aerith walked into the classroom.

"Good morning class," she said as she smiled to the class.

"Good morning Ms. Gainsborough," the class responded.

She looked around the classroom and saw Naminé. Not wanting to make the new girl nervous, she decided to approach her once they began to cook.

Addressing the class, she said, "Welcome, I'm glad to have you in my class. This year, I'll teach you breakfast recipes Monday through Thursday and dessert recipes on Friday's. You will be graded on how well you work as a team every day. During finals week, your test will be to make a breakfast and dessert dish that complement each other. You will be graded on the taste and how well you worked as a team."

The whole class nodded, happy to know that there was no written work involved.

"Today, I'll teach you something basic. I'm going teach you two different ways to cook an egg: sunny-side up and scrambled. After I'm done, you will try it in your groups and I will walk around the room to check on your work."

**Ten minutes later…**

"Alright class. Get your aprons on and start cooking. Please be careful with the oil, I don't want anyone getting injured on the first day of class."

The students began moving around the classroom, being careful to not bump into each other as they carried their eggs back to their station.

"Here, let me help you."

"Oh, thanks Naminé," Pence said, as she tied his blue apron.

"No problem."

Naminé and Pence grabbed the materials they needed as Sora went to grab the eggs. Seeing that her class was distracted, Aerith approached Naminé.

"You must be Naminé. I'm Ms. Gainsborough. Welcome to Destiny High School," she said kindly. "I hope you enjoy my class. If you ever need anything, don't hesitate to tell me."'

Naminé smiled and said, "Thank you."

Aerith smiled back and walked towards a student who was throwing the eggs towards his group, the students catching each one.

"Let's get started guys," Sora said excitingly, as he gently dropped the eggs on the bowl.

"Yea," both replied, Pence's excitement overpowering Sora's.

_'Glad some things haven't changed,' _Naminé thought, grinning as she cracked the eggs.

**- ... - ... - ... - ... - ... - ... - ... - ... - ... - ... - ... - ... - ... - ... - ... - ... - ... - ... - ... - ... -**

"Alright class, time to clean up!"

The students began to clean their stations, talking to one another as they placed their materials away.

"So what class do you two have next? I have history with Vincent Valentine," Pence said as he washed the bowls.

"I have P.E with Coach Tidus. What about you Naminé?"

"I have chemistry with… Gast Faremis."

"I'll take you to your class Naminé. I pass by there on my way to P.E." Sora said.

"Are you sure? I don't want to make you late for your class."

"It's fine."

"Thank you Sora."

"No problem."

As they grabbed their backpacks, the bell rang. The class filed out of the classroom, but not before saying goodbye to Aerith.

"I'm heading this way," Pence said, pointing to the opposite direction, "I'll see you two during break."

Waving goodbye, Sora and Naminé headed to their next class.

"Here's your class. See you in break!" Sora said, waving goodbye to Naminé as he walked away.

Naminé walked in her class nervously. She wished Sora would have stayed with her until she met someone he knew, but she wouldn't want him to be late for his class because of her insecurities. Spotting a familiar blond, she walked towards his direction. She saw that he was talking to a girl with short blue hair and a boy with brown spiky-messy hair .

"Hi Roxas. Do you mind if I sit here?"

The blond turned around, a confused look on his face. Unable to respond, the blue-haired girl answered in his place.

"Of course you can. My name is Aqua. This is Terra," she said, pointing to the brown-haired teen as he gave Naminé a small wave, "and this is Ventus."

"Hi," Ventus said. "So you met Roxas already huh? He's my cousin. Sora is my little brother."

Naminé stood in shock, wondering why Kairi and Xion didn't tell her about this.

"Don't worry. After a while, you'll be able to tell us apart."

"I'm so sorry. I didn't know," Naminé said as she blushed in embarrassment.

"It's ok." he replied with a smile. "Sit down with us."

Naminé thanked him as she sat behind him, placing her backpack on her desk.

"So you're new here?" Aqua asked.

"Yea, I moved here from Twilight Town. I'm living with Xion and Kairi. We're cousins."

"That makes us neighbors. I've known them since they were little girls," Aqua added.

"All of us pretty much grew up together," Ventus replied.

Terra nodded, a small smile on his face. However, his smile vanished as he stared at the person behind Ventus.

"No need to be happy to see me," a sarcastic voice said.

Naminé and Ventus turned around to look at the source of the voice. She was surprised to see the person who was in front of her. The young man resembled a taller and muscular Sora, except that he has jet-black hair and golden-yellow eyes instead of brown hair and blue eyes.

He stared down at Naminé, looked at her backpack, and back at her.

"Is white your signature color?" he asked harshly.

Naminé placed her hands over her backpack, unable to answer his unexpected question. Vanitas glared at her action, waiting impatiently for her to answer.

"It's a simple answer. Yes or no," he told her ruthlessly.

"Leave her alone Vanitas," Ventus said, giving him an annoyed look. "You don't even know her."

"And you do? This is the first time you meet her, idiot." Vanitas retorted.

Ventus didn't reply back, he didn't want to start a fight so soon, especially in front of Naminé. Vanitas smirked at the lack of response and walked towards the back of the classroom, sitting on the desk farthest away from the group.

"Who is he?" Naminé asked quietly.

"He's Vanitas, Roxas brother and my cousin," Ventus explained.

"Don't worry, he won't bother you. We'll make sure of it," Terra reassured her.

_'Why does it feel like I've seen him before? Those eyes look familiar, but I can't remember from where… maybe I just feel this way because he looks like Sora,'_ Naminé thought as she smiled at him gratefully.

"Alright class, settle down."

The students obeyed and sat on their desk. He wrote Mr. Faremis on the board and faced his students.

"Choose a partner, but choose carefully. They will be your partner throughout the whole year and you will not be able to switch. Sign both of your names next to one another on this paper. You have five minutes."

"You want to be my partner Naminé?" Ventus asked as he turned to face her.

Naminé was taken aback, but she happily agreed. Ventus beamed and wrote her name next to his. Once the teacher collected the sheet, he began reviewing the safety rules. He was aware that his students weren't paying attention, but it was procedure to do so. As the class dragged on, Naminé felt she was dozing off. Ventus had fallen asleep within the first ten minutes of the lecture, while Terra and Aqua were passing notes to one another to stay awake.

"Before I assign you any laboratory assignments, I am going to need your parent or guardian to sign this safety form. This is your first assignment, so bring it back by tomorrow," Mr. Faremis announced loudly, jolting his students from their daze.

As he finished passing the last safety form, the bell rang, signaling the end of the class and the start of their ten-minute break.

"You're meeting the girls at the table right?" Aqua asked as they left the classroom.

"Yea, but I forgot how to get there."

"It's ok. We'll take you there. It would be nice to finally see them," Aqua replied.

As they headed towards their meeting spot, Vanitas watched them walking away.

"Finally, things are about to get interesting."

* * *

**Sorry if this chapter was a little boring but it sets up my next two chapters. Again, I am using Final Fantasy characters, most of them being teachers. Hope you enjoyed and I will upload chapter 4 sometime in April!**

**A/N: The first chapter says that Kairi and Xion were telling Naminé about their friends, but they didn't specify any details of their appearance or how/if they are related to one another, etc.**

**Thanks for reading!**


	4. Igniting the Foundation

**Three A/N's at the bottom!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**Ch. 4: Igniting the Foundation **

"YOU LEFT HER ALONE!?"

"Ouch, Kairi you're pulling my ear. That hurts!"

"Kairi, calm down. I'm sure Naminé can find her way here. If not, one of our friends might bring her here or we'll look for her ."

"Yea, what Xion said. Ouch!"

"If Naminé doesn't come soon, I'll-"

"Kairi, I would appreciate it if you let go of my brother's ear. I don't want to get in trouble and explain why his ear is bruised."

Kairi turned around and saw Naminé standing in between Ventus and Aqua, both with an amused look on their face. Terra was standing behind them, giving the appearance he was protecting the trio in front of him.

"Kairi, I can't breathe," Naminé gasped out as Kairi unexpectedly hugged her.

Kairi released her and stepped away, a sheepish smile on her face.

"Sorry. I was just a little worried," she responded as she glared at Sora.

"I'm sorry Naminé. I shouldn't have left you alone," Sora said guiltily.

Naminé shook her head and said, "It's ok. At least you didn't keep it a secret that you had a brother and two cousins here as well."

Xion and Kairi were surprised by Naminé response. They looked at each other and pointed their finger at one another saying, "It was her idea."

The group laughed at their antics, glad that Naminé was opening to them. The guys began to talk within themselves, dragging Riku into their conversation once he arrived. Kairi and Aqua were catching up with one another, as Xion asked Naminé about her classes.

"Hey Naminé, Xion."

"Hi Roxas."

"Hey Roxas. Where's Axel?" Xion asked, looking behind the young teen as if Axel was going to jump out from behind him.

"Something about… Luxord… Axel… spreading…fire…" mumbled Roxas, who didn't want to retell their conversation. Xion had a vague idea what he meant, but she didn't want to say anything. Not yet anyways.

_'Spreading… Fire…'_

Naminé felt her heart stop beating, she felt as if the world stopped moving. Tragic memories and thoughts began consuming her once more. She felt it hard to breathe again, her eyes becoming wide in panic. She tried to calm herself down, she didn't want to worry anyone, especially her cousins.

"Anyways, can you believe Saïx? I come one minute late, and he paired me up with Larxene. If he didn't order Axel to get him his breakfast so late, _**we**_ wouldn't be late. Why couldn't he get it himself? He's doing this to make me miserable. He could of paired me up with Demyx, he's the laziest one and would make me do all the work. At least he's better company. Larxene… she… she's such a-"

"Roxas!"

"A pain in the ass," he corrected himself, rolling his eyes at Xion's reaction. "She treats me like I'm a little kid. What's wrong with her? I'm amazed she hasn't spit fire out of her mouth and burned everything around her."

Xion shook her head, but giggled at her friend's rant. It was rare for Roxas to act this way, especially in the first day of school.

_'Something else is bothering him. I wonder what Axel did this time?'_ Xion thought. She turned to look at Naminé and ask for her help to tease Roxas, but turned against it. Naminé's face was pale and her eyes were wide in fear. Her body was shaking, and her eyes were beginning to tear up.

"Naminé? Are you ok?"

_'Everything…'_

Naminé saw Roxas and Xion's worried faces. Next thing she knew, her world went black.

* * *

_"Mommy, daddy! It's hot in here!"_

_"Naminé!"_

_"Help me, I can't breathe! Mommy! Daddy!"_

_"Naminé!"_

"Naminé! Wake up!"

_'That voice…'_

Naminé felt a familiar warmth surrounding her. She also could also feel stares and hear the whispers surrounding her.

"Ugh… what happened?"

She slowly opened her eyes and saw Roxas' face. He looked relieved but his eyes showed guilt and worry. Next things she knew she saw a flash of red hair blocking her view.

"Naminé, I'm glad you woke up!" Kairi cried, hugging her cousin tightly.

"Kairi, let her breathe," Xion said, gently pulling Kairi off Naminé and lifting the blond back up to her feet. She held her hands tightly, worried her cousin might faint again. Roxas stood behind Naminé, ready to catch her in case she does.

"What happened?" Naminé asked.

"You… you fainted. Roxas caught you before you fell. Otherwise, you would have landed pretty hard on the ground," Xion responded softly.

"Naminé, are you ok? Do you want us to call mom? She can pick you so you can rest," Kairi pleaded, hoping her cousin would take the offer.

Naminé shook her head and replied, "No, it's ok. I'm sorry to have worried you. It won't happen again, I promise."

The twins didn't look convinced, but it was Roxas that spoke up.

"Naminé, I'm sorry. Was it something I said? You looked upset after I finished talking to Xion. Axel always tells me how I say the wrong things. I don't usually act this way either."

Naminé looked surprised, but giggled in response. She knew it wasn't appropriate because of what happened, but she couldn't help it, Roxas looked really lost. It wasn't his fault she fainted.

_'I thought I could handle it…'_

"It's not your fault. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to worry you."

The young teen looked a little relieved, but asked, "Why did you faint Naminé?"

Naminé looked down towards the ground. She knew they would wonder why she fainted, but she hoped they wouldn't ask. She felt a hand over her shoulder and looked up to see it was Ventus.

He had a warm smile on his face and said, "You don't have to answer if you don't want to. It's ok Naminé. We're just glad you're feeling better."

Although everyone was curious as to why she fainted, they agreed and let the matter drop. They didn't want to push her away. It was her first day in school after all, and she would tell them whenever she's ready.

"Naminé!"

The young blond turned around and saw a brunette running towards her. Behind her were two other teenage boys.

"Olette? Hayner?" Naminé whispered, not believing what she was seeing.

"See, I told you she was here," Pence state once they arrived, waving a hello to the group. Hayner approached the group and greeted everyone as well.

Olette immediately hugged Naminé.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, happy to finally see her friend once more.

"I moved here with Xion and Kairi," Naminé replied. "They're my cousins."

Hayner looked surprised, but Olette smiled in excitement.

"I knew it. When we transferred here, I met Xion and Kairi on my first day of school. They looked similar to you, mostly Kairi because of her long hair. I always wondered if you three were related, but I never asked. I'm happy to see you again."

Naminé looked towards Hayner and Pence, who were smiling at her. She was glad to see her friends once more, but it still hurt her that they left her alone for two years.

**RRRIIIIIIINNGGG!**

"And there's the bell," Sora said sadly.

The group laughed, but they also didn't want to go to class so soon. Everybody said their goodbyes and only Roxas, Kairi, Sora, Olette, Xion, and Naminé remained at the table.

"What class do you have next, Naminé?" asked Olette.

"I have math with Leonheart."

"Really? Me too!" squealed Olette, happy they share one class together.

"So do I."

The girls turned around and saw Roxas, who was smiling.

Olette smiled even bigger and said, "That's great! I finally have a class with you Roxas."

Roxas smiled and replied, "Yea, our third year huh? Let's get going. We don't want all the good seats taken."

Both girls nodded and turned to say their goodbyes to the remainder of the group.

"Roxas."

Roxas turned around and saw it was Xion who called him. He turned around and saw Olette talking to Naminé, who was already walking the blonde to their class.

_'They'll save me a seat.'_

"Yea?"

"Take care of Naminé. I don't want anything happening to her."

"Uh, yea. Sure thing Xion," he said awkwardly. "I have to get to class. See you later."

He waved goodbye to Kairi and Sora, and left for class.

"You think he'll take care of her?" Kairi asked.

"Yea, he will. And he wouldn't leave her alone like Sora did," Xion added, a mischievous look on her eyes.

"What?! Oh no, Xion!"

* * *

**A/N: My characters will probably be OCC so I apologize in advanced.**

**A/N 2: This was supposed to be two chapters but it was too short and I didn't think it was a good idea to have it as two so I combined them into one. Next chapter will conclude the first day of school and my story will start jumping days or weeks, depending on what happens.**

**A/N 3: I edited the first chapter but I just added the day. So from now on, my chapters will say the day and month. If there's no date then the date hasn't change. Hope that makes sense.**

**Thanks for reading!**


	5. Drawing live

**This is the final chapter for the first day of school.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**Ch. 5: Drawing Live**

Roxas walked quickly to catch up with Olette and Naminé. He soon spotted a white backpack through the crowed and sped up.

"Oh, it's you Roxas," Olette said when she felt an arm over her shoulder. "I was telling Naminé how we met."

"Didn't Hayner challenge me to a Struggle competition when he wanted to take over the team?"

Olette giggled, shaking her head at her friend's antics.

"That's right. He was the captain of our Struggle team in our middle school," Naminé said.

"Yea, that's why he wanted to take over. Being captain at the time, I took on his challenge. I don't need to tell you who won, that's pretty obvious."

"Hayner, right?" Naminé said innocently.

Olette laughed, as Roxas stood dumbfounded from what she said.

"Funny Naminé," he said, pushing her lightly with his free arm as she laughed as well.

The trio arrived to their math classroom, searching for empty seats in the back row.

"Roxas!"

Roxas looked towards the direction of the voice and saw Demyx wave his hand lazily. Roxas nudged Olette and pointed at Demyx.

She smiled and said, "Let's sit over there Naminé."

The blond looked at where she was pointing and nodded in response. She followed Olette and Roxas to the back of the classroom.

"Hey, didn't know you had this class too," Demyx said once Roxas sat next to him. Olette sat in front of Demyx while Naminé sat in front of Roxas.

"Yea we didn't have enough time to talk today."

Demyx bobbed his head and replied, "True, man, true."

He turned his attention back to his blue sitar and began cleaning it. When Roxas was going to join the conversation with Olette and Naminé, Demyx turned to his side and addressed Roxas once more.

"Oh, I forgot. Party at Axel's place around nine on Friday. He said to spread the word to your friends."

"Friday at nine. Got it."

"He said to give you this too. I guess he knew we would have a class together."

He handed Roxas a small note. Roxas examined the note and noticed there were no signs that Demyx has opened it.

"Thanks Demyx."

"No problem, man."

He turned his attention back to his sitar once more, ignoring Roxas' startled look.

"You ok Roxas?" Olette asked.

"Yea, I'm fine," he responded, crumpling the note in his hand. "So what classes do you two have after this one?"

"P.E, biology, history, and newspaper," Olette replied, eyeing his fist curiously.

"I have English, history, P. E, and art."

"I have P.E and art the same time you do Naminé."

"You draw too?" Naminé asked Roxas.

He shook his head and said, "Ceramics. Sometimes, the classes are combined into one if the teacher wants the students to do a paired project."

"Really?"

"Yea, but it's only for advance classes. They don't want to pair up the beginners because they're barely learning the basics."

"That makes sense. Have you been paired up with anyone before?"

"Yea, with the music class though. They wanted to try something new, but… well… it didn't turn out so good for many students. So it's just art students for now on."

The trio heard a chuckle and turned to see it was Demyx.

"That's right. Since Roxas and I worked together before, we didn't have a problem. Everybody else did. I knew Roxas worked good with his hands, but I never knew how good his hands were until I saw his work up close."

The class was quiet, until Olette giggled. Everybody else soon joined the laughter except for Roxas and Demyx, who was clueless about why everybody was laughing. Roxas, on the otherhand, groaned when he replayed the conversation in his head.

"Ok, everyone. That's enough for today," Mr. Leonhart said, but he also was trying to repress his smile.

There were a few girls who kept giggling throughout the lesson, looking at Roxas with curious eyes. He paid them no attention, thinking about the note that Axel sent him. Running a hand through his hair, he forced himself to pay attention and take notes.

"It's ok Roxas. Everybody knows what he meant, it just didn't sound right the way he said it so… excitingly."

Roxas turned to look at Olette, a strange look on his face. The lesson finished a few minutes ago, and their teacher gave them the remaining time to catch up with their homework. However, many students had their math books open and were talking to one another. _**'As long as your math book is open and you aren't using your phone, you can talk to one another,'**_ Mr. Leonhart told the class after their lesson was over. And for many students, it translated to: Do whatever you wish, just don't get caught.

"Are you sure you're ok Roxas?"

"Yea, I'm fine Olette," he answered, reassuring her with a smile. "Just ran into a bit of trouble first period."

Olette nodded in understanding and didn't press the matter further. The trio kept talking with one another until the period ended. Walking the same way, Roxas took Naminé to her next class. He stayed with her until they spotted Kairi entering the classroom. Roxas waved goodbye to the girls and headed to his class. Happy to have a class with one another, time went fast and both girls soon found themselves packing their new books into their backpacks.

"Read chapter one and two for next class," Miss Rikku reminded her students as the bell rang, signaling their lunchtime.

Kairi and Naminé headed to the table and saw that Hayner and Olette were already there. Greeting one another, the girls took out their lunch from their backpacks. They were soon joined by Sora, Xion, Roxas, Pence, and Riku. The boys got their food from the school while the girls brought their lunch from home. They talked within the group for ten minutes until Terra, Aqua, and Ventus joined them with take-out food.

"That's not fair!"

"Sorry Sora, but next year you'll be able to eat out. Seniors are able to eat out, but only if our parents signed the permission form," Ventus explained to Naminé, who had a confused look on her face.

"Talking about permission, party at Axel's house. Friday at nine," Roxas told the group.

The girls began to talk to one another about what they were going to wear while the guys were enjoying their lunch, Sora occasionally trying to steal a bite from Ventus' food. The bell soon rang and the group waved goodbye to one another. Before she left, Kairi reminded Naminé where to meet after school so they could walk home together. Having class with one another, Hayner and Naminé headed to their history class together.

Looking around, Naminé saw that most of the girls weren't paying too much attention to what Mr. Valentine was telling his students. They seemed to be entranced by his mysterious appearance and his cryptic way of speaking. Hayner, along with the majority of the guys, were annoyed of how the girls were reacting to their teacher. Once class was over, Naminé wondered if this was how the girls acted in Pence's class… or if this is how they acted overall. Walking separate ways, it was the first time Naminé walked to her class alone. Remembering that the P.E. classes were close to her chemistry class, she headed to that direction.

"Naminé!"

She turned around and saw a familiar blond running towards her. Not wanting to say the wrong name, Naminé waited for him to catch up.

"Are you lost?"

"A little," she admitted embarrassingly. Having a closer look, Naminé recognized him as Roxas.

"It's ok. I forgot my class was close to yours. I should've told you to wait so we could walk to class together."

Naminé observed Roxas to try to separate him from Ventus as both walked to the P.E. area together. Once they arrived, Roxas pointed the girls locker room to Naminé, which were located in the bottom of the art building. He explained to her that the new art classes were built on top of the girl's new locker room, creating more space for the art students. Telling her that he would wait for her outside once she was ready, Naminé walked inside the locker room as Roxas headed to the boys locker room.

"Naminé!"

Looking around, she saw Xion walking towards her.

"I saw your name in the roster and I picked your locker next to mine. I hope that you don't mind."

"No, it's ok. Thank you," she replied, happy to finally have a class with Xion.

The girls quickly changed and exited the locker rooms. Naminé spotted Roxas talking to Riku a few feet away from the locker room.

"Riku! Roxas!" Xion yelled.

Both teens turned around and walked towards the girls, Roxas sending a smile to Naminé. She smiled back, glad that he waited outside for her.

"Hey Naminé. Enjoying your first day of school?" Riku asked as he crossed his arms.

Naminé nodded and said, "I have. Everyone's really nice. I just…"

Riku raised an eyebrow and gave her a look that said, _'Yea, go ahead.'_

"Why do the guys and girls act a certain way towards Mr. Valentine?"

Riku was surprised by Naminé's question, but it was Roxas that answered.

"It's just the way he speaks and looks. I asked Olette the same thing and she gave me all this nonsense about him and that was the only thing I understood. I guess most guys don't like that he's able to get a girl's attention by teaching, especially history."

Naminé's mouth turned into a small 'o' as Xion laughed at his explanation, remembering the annoyed look Sora and Hayner had when the girls were acting that way towards their teacher their freshman year. Spotting their instructor walking towards their section, Riku nudged Xion and pointed to their class. Sending a quick apologetic smile, Riku and Xion ran to their assigned area.

"Where are..."

"Their section is by the guys locker room, which is close to the gym. We're in the same class period just with different teachers. We have coach Yuffie and they have coach Tifa. You're lucky since our section is in front of your locker room," Roxas explained, adding, "Come on, there's Yuffie."

Taking role and assigning her students with a number, Yuffie gave them the option to play basketball or walk around the track. Once dismissed, both headed to Riku and Xion's section, hoping that they were given the same option. They passed their area and noticed that their class wasn't there anymore. Roxas spotted Riku and Xion playing soccer as they walked towards the track and field. Roxas, wanting to take it easy, suggested to walk around the track to see Riku and Xion play. Naminé nodded and both engaged in conversation, occasionally cheering when Riku or Xion made a goal. Watching them secretly, Xion smiled at the sight of both blondes laughing and smiling, glad her cousin was quickly opening to their group.

"Xion?"

"Huh?"

"Here. You must be tired from all the running you did today," Naminé told her, as she handed her a cold water bottle.

"Oh, thanks Naminé."

Xion drank the water quickly, glad that she was inside the cool locker room. Done changing to their normal attire, both walked outside deep in conversation.

"Roxas?"

"Why do you sound so surprised Xion? We just had class together."

"I thought you would've left to class already."

Roxas shook his head and said, "I have art next. So does Naminé, so I figured I would wait for her since our class is just up these stairs."

Surprised, Xion just smiled and nodded her head. Reminding Roxas about meeting after school, she waved goodbye to Naminé and headed to class. Walking up the stairs to their class, Naminé couldn't contain her excitement. She has been waiting for her art class all day, which motivated her to stay in school after she fainted during break. Roxas saw Naminé's excitement and thought, _'Glad she's feeling better. Wonder if she stayed for art class?' _Roxas opened the building door for her, and in her enthusiasm, Naminé tripped on her own feet. Closing her eyes to not see the impact, she felt arms wrap around her waist and a sudden jerk. Roxas gently steadied her but didn't release her from his grip.

"You ok Naminé?"

"Yea, thanks Roxas. This is the second time today that you catch me."

"No problem. Just be careful next time Naminé."

Naminé nodded and said, "Thanks again. I promise I'll be more careful. I'm usually not this clumsy."

Roxas chuckled, replying "It's ok. We all have those days."

She giggled, and feeling her body shake from her laughter, Roxas gently released her. Both blondes walked towards their classroom, Naminé's excitement rising again. Making sure to watch her step, Naminé walked inside the classroom and followed Roxas to a table near the window. Naminé observed the art posters displayed around the classroom as Roxas talked to their fellow classmates. The bell soon rang and the students settled down in their seats.

"Good afternoon class. I'm Miss Yuna. This class is not only an advance art class, but also a paired project class. We have ceramic and drawing students this year, so I want you to pair up. Once you find your partner, come on up to my desk and sign both of your names in the same row. Also, choose a locker to put both of your materials in and put the number next to your names. You have ten minutes."

When their teacher was talking, Naminé saw that many of the students were secretly looking at Roxas. If what Demyx said was true, it would be no mystery why many wanted to be his partner. As soon as Naminé got the courage to ask Roxas if he wanted to work with her, she saw him get up from his chair and move to the front of the class. Disappointed and hurt, Naminé turned her gaze towards the window and began thinking if she would be able to transfer to another art class.

"Ok Naminé, our locker number is 13. I hope you don't mind."

Naminé slowly turned around, a confused expression on her face. Roxas' smile suddenly turned into a frown, wondering if he said something wrong.

"Uh, Naminé? Is something wrong?"

"Our locker?"

"Yea, I thought… Oh."

Suddenly, it clicked on his head why she was confused. Roxas began to apologize, saying he should have asked her first if she wanted to be partners instead of signing them up together without asking. Naminé's expression softened, _'They might look alike, but they are different._' Roxas calmed down as soon as Naminé told him that she was going to ask him herself. He smiled at her and sat down, trying to control the embarrassing blush that snuck up on him when he was apologizing. When all the students were paired up, Miss Yuna assigned each pair a simple subject so they could learn to compromise and work with one another. The remainder of the class was used for the students to sketch and add their own ideas of the subject given, which would be due the following week. Roxas and Naminé were assigned to create and draw a September flower. Roxas proposed to make two flowers instead of one and Naminé agreed, planning to draw a field of the two flowers in different colors. The rest of the time was used to choose which two flowers to draw and to sketch out their designs, each adding their own ideas to one another's sketch.

The bell soon rang, signaling the end of the first day of school. Both blondes walked out together, Roxas telling Naminé about the incidents that happened last year with the music students. As they walked to the front of the school, they quickly spotted Kairi waiting for her with Sora and Riku. With a smile on his face, Roxas waved goodbye to the group and left to meet up with Xion and Axel. The four friends walked home talking and laughing, forgetting about the event that happened during break, which Naminé was thankful for. Riku and Sora soon parted ways, leaving both girls deep in conversation as they headed to their home.

"How was your first day Naminé?" Kairi asked.

"It was great Kairi. Everyone's really nice, but I don't know about Vanitas yet."

Kairi laughed and said, "It's ok, he doesn't hang out with us that much. I'm happy you like everyone though."

Naminé smiled as Kairi planned out events she wanted to do now that they were back at Destiny Islands. Once inside her room, Naminé sat on her desk, which was placed in front of the window facing the ocean. Taking a look at the view, she took out her sketchbook and thought of what to draw. Naminé smiled at the thought of reuniting with her old friends and being able to meet new friends in her first day of school. As her thoughts drifted away with the waves, her pencil began to sketch out a familiar blond.

* * *

**Wow this has been my longest chapter and I apologize if it seemed rushed in the end. **

**I'll try to upload chapter 6 as soon as I can... and I apologize in advance if I don't upload anytime soon, this quarter in school won't be easy.**

**Thanks for reading :D!**


	6. House of Cards

**Sorry that I didn't mention this on the first chapter. They are wearing a school uniform. The girls are wearing the uniform Kairi and Selphie (well Selphie's since Kairi had her sleeves rolled up) had in KH 2 (from what I remember it looks like: a white blouse and a white/blue pleated skirt with a matching tie) and the boys are wearing a long-sleeve white buttoned shirt with a white/blue pleated tie and black pants.**

* * *

**Ch. 6: House of Cards**

**Friday: September 16**

"Are these safe to eat?"

Riku asked the question everybody had in mind. Sora had just finished telling the group that they baked cookies during first period and they made a batch to share with everyone. However, Naminé was in charge of carrying the cookies in case Sora and Pence ate them before break.

"You don't have to eat them if you don't want to," Naminé said quietly, her bangs covering her eyes as she looked at the ground.

Kairi elbowed Riku in the stomach, although she herself wondered the same question. The group nudged and looked at one another, each trying to convince someone to try them.

"I'll take one."

Roxas, who arrived when Riku asked his question, stepped forward and grabbed a cookie. As he took a bite, the group leaned in and watched his expression. He swallowed and stared at the cookie, his expression unreadable.

"Roxas?" Xion asked, worried about his blank stare.

"These are…" Roxas cleared his throat before continuing, receiving impatient looks from Riku and Kairi. "These are really delicious! Are you sure Sora made these with you Naminé? Last time he made cookies-"

"Shut up Roxas!" Sora yelled. "You promised you wouldn't bring it up again! And yes, I helped make them too."

"So did I," Pence replied, looking at the cookies. "If you guys don't want some, I'll happily eat them all."

The group quickly reached for the cookies, wanting to take a taste them before Pence made true to his word. With each bite, they were amazed how delicious they were. Before they headed to class, they each took one more sweet and thanked the trio for sharing with them.

"Thanks Roxas," Naminé told him quietly as they headed to class.

"For what?"

"Risking your health."

Roxas laughed, placing his arm around Naminé's shoulder. "You're welcome. If I get sick, I can blame Sora for it. Thank you, though. They were really good."

Naminé giggled, nodding in response. She was glad her friends liked the desserts. It would have been really painful for her to see them hate something she, Sora, and Pence worked hard for.

"Ready for tonight?" Demyx asked Roxas once he sat next to him.

Roxas shrugged his shoulders, slowly eating his cookie. He hoped that Axel would leave him alone throughout the night, or at least not tell him anything stupid. The note was still fresh on his mind, although it has been a few days since he has received it. It didn't help that Axel would always give him an evil smirk, as if he was planning something.

_'He _**is**_ planning something,_' Roxas thought. He let out a frustrated groan, running his hands through his hair. Olette and Naminé turned to look at him, each shrugging at one another. Naminé, who was worried the first two days of his unexpected sighs and groans, was getting to use to them. According to Xion and Olette, it was normal for Roxas to do so. In time, he would say what was bothering him, so it was better to let him be. Sure, she was a little worried, but she was glad that didn't get him in a grumpy mood.

"How does it look?"

"Wow, that looks great."

"Thanks," Roxas responded, brushing his locks away from his eyes.

He then looked at the clock and saw that there were five minutes left until the bell rang. Turning away from the clock, Roxas stared at Naminé, who was giggling at the site of the blond. He had paint streaks on the tip of his nose, cheeks, and forehead. The apron he was wearing to protect his clothes from the glaze was covered in different colors, ranging from red to brown.

"What?"

Grabbing the damp sponge on the sink, she gently cleaned the paint off his face.

"There. We don't want Miss Yuna confusing you with the other ceramic projects."

Roxas laughed and replied, "Thanks. Now… can I see your art?"

Naminé smiled but shook her head. She quickly walked away to avoid any more questions from Roxas. He just smiled and began to clean up the mess he made. As he cleaned, he remembered what happened during lunchtime on Wednesday.

_"Here you go," Ventus said, handing Sora his order._

_"Thanks!"_

_Riku just shook his head as Sora took an enthusiastic bite of his burger. The group talked for a couple of minutes, Sora eating his food with a smile on his face. As soon as Sora was done eating, he joined the guys teasing Ventus about being left behind. The girls giggled at the expressions on his face, occasionally adding their thoughts. Sora unconsciously turned towards Naminé, who leaned over and wiped his mouth, unaware of the group's stare. _

_Other than Riku, they had a confused look on their face. Kairi dropped her can of soda as she stared at the sight in front of her, her face turning pale. Xion didn't know what to think, shocked her cousin would do such an affectionate act to someone she barely met. Once Naminé finished, she looked around her, surprised at the expression of her friends._

_"Kairi, you spilled your soda over your skirt! Here, you can use this," she said as she handed her a handkerchief. The red head didn't reach over, shaking her head._

_"Uh, Naminé? What… what was that?" Xion asked, unaware of how high-pitched her voice sounded. _

_She stared at Xion and then at Sora, the brunette having a sheepish expression on his face. _

_"Oh, Sora. I'm sorry. It's just… just my…" Naminé bit her lip, struggling to continue. Sora gently smiled at her, encouraging her to go on. "When I was little, someone always wiped my mouth whenever I ate really messy. Also when I had paint over my face. That tendency was passed down to me, and whether it's food or paint, I just need to wipe it off. I'm sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable."_

_Riku laughed and said, "If only that can pass down to Sora, we wouldn't need to see food on his face or hand him a napkin to wipe it off. Instead of you apologizing, Sora should be thanking you."_

_Ventus, Roxas, and Hayner smiled and nodded in agreement. Pence laughed, glad he wasn't brought into the conversation. Olette and Xion where patting Kairi's hands, whose pale face was slowly regaining color._

_"Thanks Naminé," Sora said, scratching his head. _

_"Naminé."_

_The blond turned around and saw Kairi extending out her hand, an apologetic smile on her face. Naminé smiled in return and handed her the handkerchief._

_"Kairi, do you want another soda? You can have mine," Sora said as he turned around, giving Kairi his soda._

_She thanked him and continued to clean her skirt, a small smile replacing her apologetic one. Terra and Aqua soon arrived with their own food, changing the atmosphere. They were teased by Roxas and Riku about why they left Ventus alone, forgetting about what happened earlier. _

Although they didn't mention it again throughout the day, it surprised him when Naminé did that to him. Later that same day in their art class, she cleaned off the clay that he managed to get on his face. Roxas awkwardly thanked her and smoothly changed the subject, but he didn't dare mention it to anyone else. He didn't want Axel to hear about this, it would give him another reason to continue whatever he had in mind.

The bell rang, rushing Roxas to place back the materials he used and put his project in the back room. Glad to be finished, he walked towards his table and grabbed his backpack

"If you want your project to be in the kiln and be ready by Monday, place them in the back room. Art students, you need to finish by the end of Monday if your partner's project is done. Same goes to the ceramic students. Have a nice week everyone," Miss Yuna announced, receiving the same reply from her students as they left.

The students cheerfully walked out of the building, glad that their first week of school was done and over with. Since school barely started, many students didn't have much homework, resulting in a laid-back weekend.

"Are you excited for Axel's party?" Roxas asked.

"I never been to a party before," Naminé quietly confessed to Roxas. "Well, one being held by friends."

Roxas faced soften and said, "Don't worry. It'll be fun. The first time I went to one was really nerve-wrecking, but I had fun in the end."

Naminé smiled back and nodded, glad to have Roxas reassuring her. She was also happy that he didn't make fun of her and that he was understanding of how she felt. They saw Kairi run towards them as they walked closer to the gate of the school.

"There you are! Come on, Aqua's waiting," Kairi told Naminé excitingly .

Naminé gave Roxas a strange look, who shrugged and said, "I'll see you there. Bye Kairi."

"Bye Roxas. See you tonight."

Roxas walked over to the boys as Kairi and Naminé headed towards Aqua's waiting car.

"Kairi, what's going on?"

"We're going to get our things and get ready at Aqua's house. It'll be fun," Kairi squealed as she opened the back door.

Aqua smiled at them, speeding off once Kairi closed her door.

"There," Aqua said, placing the cap back on the clear lip gloss. "Hey girls, come and see."

Olette, Xion, and Kairi quickly approached Aqua. They were done getting ready and were waiting for Aqua to finish helping Naminé.

"You look amazing!" Olette and Xion said together.

"So that's the Naminé outside her uniform," Kairi teased, her eyes twinkling.

Naminé smiled at their comments and shyly turned to look at herself on the mirror. She had a cream sleeveless lace-adorned top and a navy hem skirt with white flats, light make-up to match her outfit, and passion fruit lipstick with clear lip gloss. Her hair was side-parted and loosely curled, her bangs brushed to the left side of her hair.

"Thank you," Naminé told Aqua sincerely.

She smiled and said, "Your welcome." Aqua turned to look at the clock, a surprised look on her face. "We should go, it's already 9:48. I think we had them waiting long enough."

The girls agreed and grabbed their shoes and purses. Checking the mirror one more time, they quickly got into Aqua's car and headed to Axel's house.

"That was fast," Naminé whispered to herself.

"It's a forty-five minute walk, ten minutes by car," Kairi explained as she turned around from the front seat, sending Naminé a reassuring smile.

They unbuckled their seatbelts and made a last minute check-up before they went inside. Naminé felt butterflies as theyapproached the house, unconsciously twisting the hem of her blouse. Kairi opened the door and let everyone go inside before her. They walked passed the stairs leading to the second floor and saw Sora approaching them, soon followed by Axel.

"Hey, there you are! What took you girls so long?".

"Sorry, Sora. Where's everyone else?" Xion asked.

"You girls look nice!" Axel said, placing his arm around Xion. "And there around somewhere. I'll avoid Larxene if I were you Xion. Got it memorized?"

"Yes Axel."

Axel smiled and took Xion with him, leading her to the living room. The girls and Sora followed him, Aqua leaving them once she spotted Terra and Ventus heading to the kitchen. Riku and Roxas were a few feet away from the middle of the living room, which was turned into a dance floor. Pence and Hayner quickly grabbed Olette to show her the bonfire that was being held at the backyard.

"Axel has a big house," Naminé said as her eyes wandered around.

"Yea, he does. That's why he loves to throw parties. It's the biggest place we can find and his parents don't mind either. Well, as long as we don't crash the place," Roxas explained.

Sora, Kairi, and Roxas soon were recounting the events that have happened during Axel's party. Naminé laughed at most of their stories, surprised that his parents haven't forbidden him from throwing anymore parties. Riku's eyes were wondering around, occasionally adding details the trio forgot to include. This continued on until Kairi noticed the music that was playing.

"I love this song. Let's dance!" Kairi said excitingly, turning her head at the direction of the teens dancing.

Sora turned to Riku, hoping he would come up with an excuse but he mysteriously disappeared. Roxas and Naminé were looking around to see where he went, confused of how he left unnoticed. Kairi grabbed Sora's wrist and led him to the dance floor, the brunette sending a pleading look to both blondes. They shook their head, laughing as he got dragged inside the middle of the mob. Both continued talking to one another, ignoring their surroundings. Although they were having a good time with one another, Roxas was unable to completely concentrated on their conversation. They stayed in comfortable silence after a while, looking at the people dancing.

"You look really pretty Naminé," Roxas quietly confessed.

Naminé slowly turned to look at Roxas. He was still looking towards the dance floor, but despite the living room being somewhat dark, she could see him blushing. She was about to tell him thank you when she saw someone approaching them.

"Roxas! Naminé!"

"Hi Demyx," Roxas mumbled out.

"Do you like the music? I chose the playlist," Demyx declared, a bright smile on his face.

"Yea. Everyone seems to like it too," Naminé replied, a little confused about Roxas distant look.

"I'm going to get something to drink. Do you guys want me to bring you one back?"

Naminé nodded as Demyx raised his cup. Glad to have an excuse to leave, he headed to the kitchen deep in thought, the note rising in his head once more. _'Luxord won't help until I beat him in a game. I'll be taking full force for now. So… ask her to go with you to the party. As your date!' _Roxas shook his head, not noticing Riku passing by. Riku shrugged as he approach Xion, who was by the stairs leading to the second floor.

"You escaped Kairi?" Xion asked.

"Yea. Left Sora to fend for himself."

Xion shook her head, but laughed nevertheless. "Where's Naminé?"

"Talking with Demyx. Roxas is probably getting them something to drink."

She took a sip from her cup, hoping Naminé was having a good time. Xion checked her watch for the time, keeping a close eye on Riku. _'11:56. It's my turn.'_ Finishing her drink, she grabbed Riku's wrist and dragged him to the dance floor. Olette watched Xion pull Riku to where Kairi and Sora were dancing, giggling to the threatening looks the trio were sending to the silver-haired boy. She approached the kitchen, happy to find the person she was looking for all night. Olette made sure that none of her friends were around the kitchen, it wouldn't be good if they overhear their conversation.

"I know."

Roxas raised his eyebrow, placing the ladle down slowly in the punch bowl.

"About Naminé."

"What?"

"Come on, Roxas. Don't play dumb with me. You walk with her everywhere and talk to her nonstop," Olette pointed out.

"And? So do you guys."

"You like her."

"No, I don't. We're just good friends, that's it."

"Roxas, I'm your friend. You can tell me anything."

"Oh yea?"

Roxas stared at Olette, a mischievous look in his eye. Before she could say a word, he wrapped his arms around her and brought her close to his body. He leaned closely to her ear, whispering something that made her blush.

"Hey!"

The blond released her, an innocent look on his face. Olette quickly turned around, trying hard to make her blush go away.

"I thought you were going to get something to drink," Hayner declared.

"Here you go Olette. You can take mine."

However, Hayner grabbed her hand before she could reach it. "Let's dance."

Surprised by his unexpected outburst, the brunette agreed and followed Hayner. She turned around and gave Roxas a quick smile. Roxas bowed his head and grabbed both of the cups he served. Pushed their conversation out his mind, he walked back to the living room.

"Roxas! Where have you been? I've searched for you everywhere," Axel slurred, placing his arm over the blond.

"I was with Demyx and Naminé. Have you seen them? They were here before I left."

Axel placed his head over Roxas, thinking out loud. "I saw Demyx heading upstairs. No, that's not right. I sent him to be the deejay again. Naminé? No, I haven't seen your girlfriend."

"She's not my girlfriend," Roxas responded angrily. "She wasn't with Demyx?"

Axel shook his head. "No, he was alone. Come with me. I haven't been with you since the girls came!"

Roxas tried to push him away, but his grip was too hard. He let Axel lead him away, preparing himself to escape when he had the chance. From the front door, Naminé was able to see Axel and Roxas walk towards the backyard.

"Ready?"

In response, she walked out of the house without another word.

* * *

**This is a map of the school, hope it looks good. It looks good in the draft…**

[Gym-P.E. Area/Art]- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - [English/Language] - - - - - - - - - - -

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - [Cafeteria] - - - - - - - -[History]- - -

[Chemistry/Science]- - - - - [Garden water fountain/Quad]- [Library] - - [Tree-table Quad]

- - - - - - - - - - [Auditorium] - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - [Cooking/Electives]

- - [Math] - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - [Music] - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - [Office] - - - - - - - - - -

- - - - - - - - - - - - -[Gate/Entrance] - - - - - - - -

**The dashes are to make the space otherwise the brackets will be next to one another. The entrance of the school has a gate (well the majority of the school does, just like any school... i guess) and it's the only entrance opened during lunchtime for the seniors. There are parking spaces in the front of the school and next to the auditorium. Just want to make it more life-like (;**

**I kind of made Naminé the Cinderella in this chapter, only giving her description of the outfit she's wearing and having Aqua help her get ready. There is another similarity, hope you can find it! I also didn't want to add what everyone was wearing. That would take a long time… and I suck at giving their clothes/hair/make-up descriptions. XD**

**I am looking for two Japanese names (one female and the other doesn't matter) that mean: beautiful, sweet, pure, sunset, stars, moon, ocean, flower, spring, winter, love, and/or light. One can be a name and a nickname and the female is just the name. The female's name will appear only once in one chapter but I might add her name here and there in future chapters. She is important for two of the characters and I want her name to be meaningful. A little of her back story will be told as well. The other name will appear occasionally but that's a surprise! If you have any suggestions, then comment and I will probably use them. I have some names but I'm not too sure about them. Thanks!**

**Next chapter: Roxas runs into a bit of trouble. **

**I also want to know what you think so far, so go on and leave a review!**

**Thank you!**


	7. The Dice of Trouble

**There's a little bit of cursing and violence, so beware... you might not even notice it (; **

**Maybe...**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter 7: The Dice of Trouble**

**Monday: September 19**

For some strange reason, Xion wasn't able to shake off the feeling that something bad was going to happen. She's had that premonition since she stepped on school ground. Too deep in thought, she wasn't paying attention to her surroundings.

"Xion?"

"Huh?" Xion looked beside her, unaware of the brunette sitting next to her.

"You look really worried. Did something happen?"

"No, everything's fine." She smiled and changed the subject. "How was your weekend?"

Olette began to twist her hands, a smile appearing in her face. "It was nice." Her smile got bigger as she saw spotted a familiar blond approaching them. "I have some good news."

Xion's worry was replaced by curiosity. She followed Olette's gaze and stared back and forth between them. She gasped in realization, her blue eyes widening.

"What is it Xion?" Kairi asked, her attention shifting to her twin's expression.

She leaned forward and squealed at the sight. Everyone turned their direction towards Kairi, surprised to see Hayner and Olette holding hands.

"About time," Riku uttered, breaking the silence.

Hayner glared at Riku, but couldn't suppress his smile. Xion and Kairi hugged Olette as Ventus and Terra ruffled Hayner's hair. Aqua congratulated both of them, pressuring Sora to do the same. Pence already knew so he continued eating his breakfast, happy for his best friends. Naminé kept her distance, pretending to look for her phone in her backpack.

"I want to know what happened," Kairi hinted.

Before Olette could respond, she looked at Hayner for approval. He nodded, fighting the blush that was threatening to appear.

"It's all thanks to Roxas." Naminé froze, finally turning her attention to the couple. Pretending not to notice, Olette continued. "His little stunt at the party made Hayner jealous. He grabbed me close and whispered that Hayner and I like each other. Hayner saw and asked me to dance. We spent most of the night dancing and he took me home. The next day, we went out to the beach and he asked me if there was something between me and Roxas. I told him no and… and he kissed me. After the kiss, he asked me if I wanted to be his girlfriend and I said yes."

"That's really sweet," Kairi awed, shifting closer to Sora.

"Yea. Who knew Hayner's jealousy will make him sweet," Riku added, crossing his arms intelligently. "First Mr. Valentine and then Roxas. We just need Axel to join the list and Hayner will be as romantic as Sora."

"Hey, I'm more romantic than you!" Sora exclaimed.

"Oh, yea? At least I'm aware when a girl is flirting with me, unlike you with-"

"Now that you mention it, where's Roxas?" Kairi interrupted Riku, sending him a threatening glare.

"I saw him in the morning… but I didn't have time to talk to him," Xion answered, becoming worried once more.

Everyone stood up and began to look around for Roxas, aware of the trouble he might face if he was alone. Ventus called his phone but Roxas didn't answer. The bell rang as they were about to split up into small pairs to find him.

"We have him next. I'll ask him where he was and text you what he says," Olette reassured Xion, hoping to calm her down.

Xion nodded and smiled, thanking her as she left for class. Naminé waited patiently for the new couple to say goodbye to one another, nervous to see Roxas. She felt awful for ignoring him all weekend, confused about why she felt angry and hurt towards him. _'Roxas didn't do anything wrong. He's been sweet to me all this time. I shouldn't have acted the way I did towards him,_' Naminé thought as she walked to her classroom with Olette.

"I hope Roxas is in class already. I wonder why Xion was so worried."

"Yea," the blond answered. "I'm happy for you and Hayner. I don't know why I never noticed there was something between you two."

Olette giggled, blushing at her statement. "Well, at first it was just a crush, so I didn't think much about it. But my feelings grew stronger during my freshman year and I couldn't ignore it. I'm glad he feels the same way."

Naminé nodded in agreement and felt the weight she had in her heart lift a little. The girls talked about their weekend, happy that the awkward atmosphere between them was gone.

"Demyx, where's Roxas?"

"Can't say. He's in good hands though, so don't worry."

Olette nodded, satisfied with the answer. She sat down and took out her phone, quickly sending Xion a text message. Their lesson soon began, forcing Naminé to push any thoughts about Roxas out of her head.

"What did Xion say?" Naminé asked as she recopied her notes.

"She just said thanks with a smiley face. Glad she calmed down," Olette responded. "Why are you rewriting your notes?"

"Oh, well… uh…"

Olette turned around and saw Demyx with his head down on his desk. Shaking her head she asked, "Was he like this throughout the lesson?"

Naminé nodded and said, "I thought Roxas would need today's notes since he wasn't here. He could share them with Demyx too."

''That's nice of you Naminé," Olette replied, smiling too brightly. "How did you sleep Sleeping Beauty?"

"Not bad," Demyx yawned, stretching his arms in front of him so the teacher wouldn't see. "Bell's going to ring soon. If only class was longer…"

Both girls giggled and shook their heads, putting their materials away in their backpacks. As she walked to her next class, Naminé secretly wished that her classes were a little longer. She had classes with her friends and felt lucky to be able to sit next to them, a chance that many students didn't have. However, it was not always a blessing if your friend was not in a good mood.

"Kairi, it's ok. The book is short and you can finish it in an hour. I can help you," Naminé told her gently as they walked out of class.

"I'm just happy that class went fast," Kairi mumbled bitterly.

Once they reached the table, Kairi sat down and placed her head down. Sora debated where to sit, in the end deciding to sit in front of her so he would be out of arms reach if he said something wrong. Riku shook his head and sat between Xion and Kairi, eating his food as if there was nothing wrong.

"Kairi, what's wrong?" Olette asked, sensing an angry vibe from the red-head.

"Can you believe we were already assigned to write an essay?"

"It's an English class. What else do you expect?" Riku questioned.

"Not an essay in the second week!"

"She's got a point," Sora agreed. "I hate essays."

"So do I, but at least you don't have to write a report every day," Axel said as he approached the group.

Although they had a vague idea about what he was saying, they agreed that he had it worse. They knew how often Roxas and Axel had to help Demyx write an appropriate report. Even though they didn't know what they had to write about, it seemed that there was no room for mistakes. Kairi quickly took out her book and began reading, aware that Xion went through the same thing a few months ago and didn't complain once.

"Hey, Xion. Roxas isn't here?" Axel asked casually.

"I haven't seen him since this morning. I thought…" Xion turned to look at Olette.

"Demyx said he was in good hands," Olette said, receiving a nod from Naminé as support.

"He was," Axel responded. He then sighed, scratching his head in frustration. "Damn it."

"Axel, what's wrong?"

He looked at Xion, a grim expression on his face. "A pair of dice told me to look out for him."

Riku immediately took out his phone and called Roxas, placing his hand over Xion's shoulder to try to comfort her. He dialed once more, shaking his head at Olette, who began to look around the quad searching for spiky-blond hair. Everyone else was confused, waiting for an explanation from Axel.

"What's going on?" Olette asked out loud.

The group turned to where she was looking. They saw various students quickly walking towards the direction of the music building.

"Roxas," Axel mumbled.

He took off in the same direction, quickly followed by Xion. The group quickly threw away their lunch, grabbed their backpacks, and followed the duo. They arrived between the music and math building and saw a group of students formed in a circle. The majority of the students were standing on their toes to see what was going on. Kairi soon spotted Xion and Axel pushing their way through.

"Ok, we're going to separate and push our way through in pairs. Alright?" Not waiting for their respond, Kairi continued. "Olette, Pence, and Hayner. Naminé and Ventus. Terra and Aqua. Sora and Riku, you two are coming with me."

They separated and began to push through the crowd, holding on to one another tightly. As they got closer to the middle of the circle, they spotted Roxas and another teen with a black beanie in the center.

"Is that Seifer?" Naminé asked Ventus.

Ventus only nodded, pushing her forward. However, no one was able to reach Roxas. Seifer's gang was acting as a wall separating the students from Roxas and Seifer, shoving anyone who tried to get a closer look or those who tried to intervene. Naminé spotted Demyx being held back by a teen with steel-blue hair, who was observing the scene with a cool expression. Her attention was brought back to the scene in front of her when she heard Seifer talk.

"Who would want you? You're a fucken loser and a wimp," Seifer taunted Roxas. "You're worthless. Why do you even bother to get up in the morning?"

Seifer's gang laughed, repeating his statements. Unable to hold back his anger, Roxas ran towards Seifer and punched him on the face. Seifer's smirk turned into sneer as he punched Roxas back. Roxas quickly turned his head but Seifer's fist collided with his left ear. They tackled one another, each trying to throw the other to the ground with continuous blows.

"Roxas!" Xion yelled, pushing the girl in front of her to get through.

The girl turned around and asked, "Does his girlfriend want to join the fight?"

"Move Fuu. I'm sure you don't want to see your boss over there get fucked up," Axel replied cruelly.

Xion looked around to find a hole in the group, surprised to see Vanitas standing in the front of the crowd.

"Vanitas, aren't you going to do anything?"

The raven-haired teen turned around and saw Terra and Aqua approaching him.

"Fuck off," Vanitas responded.

"Do you think this is amusing?" Terra asked angrily.

"Terra, this is not the time. We need to find a way around his group," Aqua told him urgently, holding his hand to try to calm him down. They turned their direction to the fight, hoping to find a way to stop them without starting a brawl with Seifer's gang.

Roxas managed to hit Seifer on the stomach as Seifer punched him on his temple. Although he was uncoordinated from the last blow, Roxas managed to knock him to the ground and punched him on the face once more.

"Oh no, Seifer!" Rai yelled, running to help his friend.

He grabbed Roxas from the collar of his shirt and threw him to the ground. The impact was too hard for Roxas, who couldn't stand up from the pain on his back and the blow to his head. Axel pushed his way through to stop Rai, hoping to help his friend in time. However, it was Vanitas that reached him first. Without trouble, Vanitas grabbed Rai's arm and flipped him around, his face crashing on the ground. He stepped on his back, a smirk over his face as he grabbed Rai's arm.

Twisted his arm as he brought it close to his chest, Vanitas looked down at Rai and said, "It's a one-to-one fight. If you want to join, fight someone else." He lifted his gaze, ignoring Rai's whimpering. "Same goes to the other lap dogs watching."

He glared at everyone, daring them to come forward. When no one approached them, Vanitas released Rai's arm and walked towards Roxas. He grabbed his arm and lifted him up, walking away without a word once Roxas balanced himself. Seifer's gang quickly ran to Seifer and Rai, sending Roxas spiteful glares as they left.

"Roxas, are you alright?" Axel asked once he was by his side. "Come on, we'll get you cleaned up in the restroom. We don't want to get caught if a teacher comes."

Roxas only nodded, allowing Axel to lead him inside the math building. Ventus and Sora soon followed them, leaving everyone else to make sure Seifer's gang didn't come back. They quietly talked to one another, sending someone inside the building every couple of minutes to make sure no adult went into the restroom.

"Where's Roxas? How is he?" Xion asked as Ventus and Sora approached them.

"Don't worry, he's fine. Axel wanted to talk to him alone," Ventus replied. "The bell's going to ring in a couple of minutes, so I suggest we just head to class. We need to get out of here. We look too suspicious just standing here."

Everyone agreed and walked their separate ways. Hayner decided to walk Olette to class, leaving Naminé to walk alone. As she walked to her class, she hoped that time would pass fast so she could see Roxas and make sure that he was alright. Her history class felt longer than usual but she felt relieved when she was already dressed for P.E. However, she felt a little sad that Roxas wasn't waiting outside her class as usual and hoped, along with Xion, that he was outside their locker room.

"Riku?"

"They called him up to the office," Riku answered, sensing Xion's question. "Some idiot was telling the whole class about the fight and a teacher overheard as he passed by."

"I hope he doesn't get into too much trouble."

Riku shook his head as he crossed his arms. "Not as much as Seifer. The whole school knows his reputation and he likely started it all. The idiot who opened his mouth should be the one worried. Seifer and his gang will hunt him down for getting him into trouble."

Both girls agreed, Xion hoping that Roxas would have control over his anger throughout his meeting. Riku and Xion soon left to their section and Naminé walked towards her assigned number. Luckily for her, both of their classes were being combined into two groups and she was in the same team with Xion. They headed to the football field and began to play capture the flag. Riku was in the red team while Xion and Naminé were in the yellow team.

"I'm not losing to you this time Riku!" Xion yelled as she chased the silver-haired boy.

He turned around and smirked, picking up his speed as he got close to the yellow team's flag. Naminé tried to stop Riku but she knew he was too fast for her. Each team kept going back and forth to retrieve their flag, the red team counting on Riku to win.

"I knew I shouldn't have made that bet," Xion whispered to herself. Naminé slowly closed her locker and turned to look at her curiously. "If Roxas was here, we would've been a threat."

"Yea," Naminé replied. "But… he never came back to class."

"I doubt they sent him home. It's pointless since it's almost time for school to be over. If they're sending anyone home, it's Seifer."

Walking slowly upstairs, Naminé wondered if Roxas was going to be in class. _'If what Xion said was true, he might still be here.'_ She walked inside the building but didn't walk into the classroom. Something was holding her back from opening the door, forgetting the fact that the door could hit her on the face if someone opened it from inside.

"Excuse me."

Naminé slowly turned around, recognizing the voice behind her.

"Naminé," Roxas breathed out, surprised by her unexpected hug.

She held him tighter, pressing her head close to his chest. Roxas relaxed and hugged her back, trying to hold back the groans that were threatening to escape. Taking control of her emotions, Naminé gently released Roxas once she realized he was having trouble breathing.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you."

"No, it's ok. My back still hurts from Rai's throw," Roxas replied, gently massaging his back. "Let's go in, we don't want to be late."

Roxas opened the door and allowed Naminé to go in first. Both of them headed to their table quickly, avoiding the students glances. Their art teacher made the same announcement as Friday and then started the roll call. Once done, the students began to take out their material and talked within themselves as they worked. Roxas walked to the back room and brought out his finished project. He sat down across Naminé and gently placed his figurine in front of him. He admired his project, a pink-tinged white Aster with a butterfly and a lilac-blue Morning Glory with a bee, before turning his attention to Naminé.

"Are you alright?" Roxas asked, seeing Naminé blankly stare at her canvas.

"I should be the one asking you that."

"I'm fine. Better than Seifer."

"Did you get into a lot trouble?"

"No. I just got detention for two weeks and Seifer was suspended for a week. I won't be surprised if there's another fight after he comes back."

"Because of that guy in Riku's class, right?"

"Yea."

"You're done Roxas?" Miss Yuna asked.

"Uh, yea. I was going to ask you what I should do next," Roxas lied.

"You can help out Naminé or the other students."

"Alright."

Miss Yuna walked away and approached the glaze room, shaking her head as she went inside.

"Do you need any help?"

"Don't you want to come closer?"

"Well, you don't want me to look at your painting until you're done, right?"

Although Naminé knew that he didn't mean to sound rude, there was a little harshness in his voice. She couldn't blame him, he tried to help her multiple times and he never pressured her to show him her art. She also ignored him all weekend, making it seem as if she was adding insult to injury.

"Actually, I'm almost done. But before I finish, I want to know what you think about it," Naminé responded. She smiled gently when she saw his shocked expression. "I mean it Roxas."

"Oh, alright."

Roxas awkwardly walked towards Naminé, unsure of what to say. He was rendered speechless when he saw her painting. It was a field of Aster and Morning Glories in red, pink, blue, purple, and white colors. Some of the flowers looked as if they were gently swaying with an invisible breeze.

"Um, Roxas?" Naminé nervously stared up at him, waiting for his response.

"Y-you aren't done?"

She shyly shook her head and said, "I just need to draw the sun and the sky."

"It looks amazing Naminé," he said sincerely.

"Thanks Roxas. Yours looks amazing too. It looks realistic."

"Thanks and so does yours… Well, I'll let you finish. I want to make the base smooth before class is over."

Roxas reached over the table and grabbed his art. He quickly smiled at Naminé, walked to the front desk to grab a sanding belt, and left the classroom. Naminé spent the rest of the period finishing her painting, occasionally glancing at the door. The bell rang as Roxas walked back into the classroom with a satisfied look. He quickly placed his figurine in the back room and walked to the door where Naminé was waiting for him with his backpack. He thanked her and they made small talk as they headed to entrance of the school.

"Are your parents going to be mad?"

"I doubt he'll care," Roxas responded indifferently. "A fight won't worry him."

"You had Xion and Axel really worried," Naminé said quietly. "You had all of us worried."

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to worry anyone," Roxas replied quickly. "I'm fine though."

He grinned to show that he was fine. Naminé smiled in return and took off her backpack, causing Roxas to slow down and watch their surroundings so no one will bump into her. He chuckled as he saw Naminé struggle to open the large pouch, so he stopped and held on to her backpack.

"Thanks."

"No problem."

She quickly took out her notes and zipped her backpack. They continued walking, Roxas curiously eyeing the pieces of paper she was protectively holding.

"I'm sorry."

"For what?" Roxas asked confusedly, wondering what she might be apologizing for.

"This weekend. I shouldn't have left the party without telling anyone, especially you. I'm sorry for ignoring your text messages. I don't know what I was thinking. I didn't mean to be rude."

"Naminé-"

"Oh, here. I copied the math notes for you. You can share them with Demyx too. He fell asleep during class."

"Naminé-"

"I hope that you understand them. If you don't, then you can just ask Olette for her notes. You can also text me if you need help. I promise that I'll text back. I'm-"

"Naminé," Roxas interrupted, grabbing the young blond by the shoulders. "Thank you. I really appreciate it. This is the first time someone has done this for me."

"Really?"

"Yea. I usually have to ask someone for their notes. Thanks again Naminé," he said sincerely, gently grabbing the notes. "And you don't have to apologize. If I did something wrong, you can tell me. I don't want to leave any misunderstanding between us."

"You didn't do anything wrong. I… I don't even know how to explain it," Naminé finished quietly, placing her head down so she could avoid any eye contact with Roxas.

"It's ok. Whenever you figure it out, you can talk to me," he replied, kindly placing his hand over her head. "Alright?"

Naminé smiled and nodded, glad that Roxas didn't hold anything against her. He removed his hand and they began to walk again. They were close to the entrance of the school when they heard someone's name being called out.

"Roxas!"

Both blondes turned around and saw Axel running towards them, a frustrated look on his face.

"What the hell are you doing? You're going to be late!"

"Late for what?" Naminé asked.

"I have detention after school," Roxas replied. He turned to address Axel with a confused look. "But I start tomorrow. Right?"

"Did that blow to your head create short-term memory?" Axel asked. "You have detention starting today. Got it memorized?"

Roxas rolled his eyes at his friend's trademark. "Yea, now I do."

Naminé gently smiled and said, "You should go Roxas. I don't want you to be late."

"Right. Thanks for the notes Naminé, I really appreciate them."

"You're welcome. I'll see you tomorrow. Bye Axel."

"See ya."

Roxas watched her walk away before turning to the direction of the locker room. He walked in a quick pace, followed closely by Axel. Before he could speak his mind, Axel made sure that there was no one around as they walked through the quad.

"You're a horrible liar."

"Cause you know me so well," Roxas replied sarcastically.

"As a matter of fact, I do," Axel stated cheekily. "If _I_ remember correctly, _you're_ the one who told me you had detention today ten minutes ago. How could you forget something like that in such a short amount of time?"

"That blow to my head created short-term memory," Roxas repeated casually before running away to his destination.

"Maybe she's the one doing that!" Axel yelled.

However, Roxas didn't respond back. He was either too far away to have heard or was ignoring Axel. _'Probably ignoring me,'_ he thought.

"But maybe you already knew that," he said softly, smiling as he headed to the library to wait for his friend.

* * *

**This has to be the longest chapter I ever written! Hope you enjoyed.**

**Next chapter: Roxas thanks Naminé for her notes in a way that shocks one of the girls. **

**P.S.: I noticed I didn't mention the two flowers they chose in the previous chapters so I'm sorry. Aster and Morning Glory are September birth flowers and they have a meaning... which might be thrown in next chapter as well!**


	8. Taking Out the Old Maid

**Answers to ASK ME are in the bottom.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**Ch. 8: Taking Out the Old Maid**

**Wednesday: September 21**

"Remember, you have until Friday to take your projects home. I'll see you tomorrow."

The bell soon rang and a few students walked towards the backroom while everyone else left the classroom. Roxas approached their teacher as Naminé grabbed her painting, carefully balancing it in her hands.

"Will you be fine carrying that to your house?" Roxas asked as he approached Naminé.

"Yea. I asked Aqua for a ride earlier today."

_'There goes my chance.' _Roxas thought. "I'll at least help you carry it to the entrance."

"What about your detention?"

"Don't worry, I can run. Now come on, let's not keep Aqua waiting."

He gently took the painting from Naminé's hands and walked towards the door. She quickly followed him and opened the door, allowing Roxas to walk first. He smiled in thanks and both walked quickly and carefully to the front entrance.

"Are you sure it's no problem?"

"I'm sure, otherwise I wouldn't have asked. You should know that."

Naminé smiled and nodded, glad that she wasn't a bother to the blond. They made small talk as they approached Aqua, who was already waiting inside her car.

"Sorry if I made you wait," Naminé said through the open window.

"I just got here. Terra and Ven kept me for a while," Aqua responded as she leaned down her seat to press the trunk button. "The trunk's open. Your painting will be safe there."

"Thanks Aqua."

Roxas followed Naminé to the trunk and gently placed the canvas inside. He secured it before closing it, making sure that the painting wouldn't get damaged throughout the drive. Roxas then opened the front passenger door for Naminé, receiving a curious look from Aqua.

"What about me?"

Roxas quickly turned around and smiled. "Your chariot awaits," he said, bowing as he opened the back seat door.

"Thanks Roxas," Kairi responded, patting his arm before he closed the door. "Don't tell Axel."

"As you wish, Princess."

Kairi rolled her eyes but did nothing. She would've normally smacked him on the head for such a remark, but since he helped Naminé carry her heavy canvas, she let it slide. Roxas smiled and quickly waved goodbye to the girls before running to his detention.

"Such a gentleman," Kairi said sarcastically.

Naminé and Aqua laughed, Kairi soon joining them a few seconds later. They talked and sang along the music all the way to Kairi's house, glad to be able to have some girl time with one another.

"Thanks again Aqua."

"No problem. I'm glad you asked."

"I'll make you dessert. So please, join us for dinner."

"I'm sure mom would love it if you do," Kairi added, unlocking the door to the house and holding it open for Naminé.

"I would love to. I'll come back in ten minutes."

"Great! No need to knock, just come in."

Aqua nodded, smiling as she got into her car. Kairi gently closed the door and helped Naminé take her canvas up the stairs and to her room. They hung the painting next to her window, creating the image that the painting was reacting with the breeze and ocean.

"That looks amazing," Kairi whispered, awed that the young blonde could paint with such elegance.

"Thanks," Naminé said quietly, smiling as she stared at her painting.

They talked with one another as they headed downstairs to meet Aqua. Aqua soon arrived and joined them in their conversation, Kairi occasionally switching the television channels. Naminé left the two girls to start on her homework, shaking her head as they gossiped about Terra and Sora. A few minutes into her homework, her phone vibrated. She curiously grabbed her phone and read the message.

_'Can you come outside? -R'_

_'Where are you? -N'_

_'By your house -R'_

_'I'll be there in a minute -N'_

_'Come alone -R'_

_'Ok -N'_

Naminé quickly rushed down the stairs, ignoring Kairi asking her where she was going. She walked quietly to the side of her house. There, she saw Roxas looking at the ocean, the breeze gently pushing his hair.

"Roxas," Naminé whispered.

He turned around and smiled. "Sorry for calling you out here unexpectedly."

"It's ok. How did you get here?" Roxas showed her his skateboard. "Aren't you tired? I'll go get you a cup of water."

"No it's fine. I won't stay long." He took off his backpack and took out his ceramic figure. "Here, I want you to have it."

"Are you sure? I saw how hard you worked on it."

"I'm sure. It's a uh," Roxas cleared his throat and gave Naminé a nervous smile. "Thanks for the notes."

Naminé reached towards the figure and delicately held it in her hands. _'It's so light and beautiful up close. It's as if a part of Roxas' heart is in there,_' she thought, smiling as she observed the butterfly. She lifted her gaze at Roxas, who's smile was bright and big as he observed her. They blushed when they made eye contact, shifting their gaze away from one another.

"Thank you for today and for this," she said nervously. "You should join us for dinner. Aqua's eating with us."

"No," Roxas said quickly. "I mean, thanks but I don't want to be a bother. I need to get home before it gets too dark and it's my turn to cook dinner."

"Alright, but that's going to be a rain check."

Roxas chuckled and nodded. "Yes ma'am."

Naminé approached him and hugged him, sending her thanks in the embrace. Roxas tighten his grip in response before letting her go. He said goodbye and left, Naminé watching him disappear before she went back inside the house. She walked into her room and placed the figure on her desk next to her painting, admiring the effect that they had together. She was brought out of her thoughts when she heard a knock on her door.

"Come in."

"Wow, Kairi was right. That's very beautiful," Aqua said as she walked inside and got closer to the art piece. "Morning glory and aster, right?"

Naminé nodded, surprised that she recognized the flowers. No one, other than the teacher, were able to identify the flowers in class.

"Do you know what they mean?" Naminé shook her head, unaware that there was a meaning behind the flowers. "The aster is known as a talisman of love and symbol for patience. The morning glory means love and affection. It also represents a single day when lovers can meet."

Naminé looked at her painting and then at the figurine sitting on her desk. She gently touched the ceramic figure, a light blush appearing on her cheeks.

"Did you make that too?"

Naminé shook her head and said, "Roxas gave it to me to show me his thanks."

"Roxas gave you that?" Aqua asked, shock expressed in her voice and face.

"Yea. Why? Is something wrong?" Naminé asked, worried as she turned to face Aqua.

"Naminé, what do you know about his family?"

"Ventus and Sora are his cousins and Vanitas is his big brother."

"That's all?"

"Well, I asked him if his parents would be mad at him because of the fight, but he only mentioned his dad. He said that he wouldn't care."

Aqua was a little surprised that Roxas didn't tell Naminé about his past, considering how both blondes seemed really close the last few days. She understood, however, if Roxas didn't want to tell her his whole past when they had a vague idea what Naminé had gone through. She debated whether to tell her about Roxas, but decided in telling Naminé her own experience with him. It would be up to Roxas to tell Naminé about his childhood when he was ready.

"When Roxas was little, he would make crafts and give it to his family. Ven and Sora would always show us what he made them. I was surprised when he gave me, Terra, and Riku something for Valentine's Day since Roxas was really shy with us. His smile always got bigger when he gave his crafts as gifts." Naminé smiled as she imagined a tiny Roxas covered in glue and glitter handing Aqua a paper heart with a huge grin. "But something happened and he stopped making them. We knew he still loved art, so we forced him to sign up to a ceramic class in middle school. At first, he was mad at us for doing that to him. After a while though, we would see him smile and he thanked us. But he never gave anyone anything he made," Aqua finished, smiling sadly at Naminé.

"Why did he stop? I see how happy it makes him." _'And how big he smiled when I accepted his gift.'_

"He stopped because… his dad doesn't live with them anymore and his mom…" Aqua struggled to continue, unsure to how Naminé will react. "His mom died a couple of years ago. Roxas and Vanitas are living with Ven's family."

_'"I doubt he'll care. A fight won't worry him." That's why he only mentioned his dad. But… but…'_

"Even though his dad's alive, he's not here?" Naminé asked outloud. "Why would he do that? Why would he leave his two sons alone?"

Aqua saw Naminé's body start to shake and her eyes start to tear up. She quickly locked the door and pulled her to sit on her bed. She sat next to her and placed her hand over Naminé's to try to comfort her.

"Aqua, why? I lost my parents and my grandma," Naminé choked out. "That fire... it started out of nowhere and all I remember is my mom screaming my name. My mom died protecting me and my dad fought to stay alive so he could be with me. I couldn't do anything to save them." Aqua quickly hugged Naminé, her tears staining Aqua's blouse. "After their funeral, my grandma moved to Twilight Town from Radiant Garden to take care of me. But she died a month ago and that's why I came here. I was too scared to open up to people because I thought I would lose them. I felt lonelier when Olette, Pence, and Hayner left… which proved what I believed in."

Aqua stayed silent for a few minutes, letting Naminé have time to take control of her emotions. The group knew that Naminé lived with her grandmother because her parents passed away. Kairi and Xion didn't even know about her until they went to Twilight Town to meet her for the first time. Only Olette, Hayner, and Pence knew about her past, but they refused to say anything about it. Everyone respected their decision and decided to wait for Naminé to tell them herself whenever she was ready.

"When Roxas is ready, he'll answer your questions," Aqua said gently. "But with Olette, Hayner and Pence, they had no choice in that matter. We saw how guilty they would look when we would eat lunch together or when we went out somewhere. They never told us why, though. But they thought about you, and we can all see how happy they are now that you're here. Even Sora pointed it out."

This made Naminé giggle. She gently separated herself from Aqua's embrace and wiped her tears. Taking a deep breath, she said, "My grandma made me promise to start a new journey. To open up, trust others, and face my fears. Thanks to all of you, I've been able to do that little by little. I just… wonder why would he leave them. Roxas and Vanitas don't deserve that."

"You're right about that Naminé. But they aren't alone. They have their family, us, and now Roxas has you," Aqua smiled at the confused but relieved look on Naminé's face. "The same goes for you. We're here if you ever need us. Don't forget that."

"I won't."

"Naminé, Aqua!" Kairi called out from the bottom stairs. "It's dinner time."

"I'll go first. Go downstairs when you're ready. And don't worry, I won't tell anyone. You can tell everyone else when you're ready," Aqua added, responding to Naminé's pleading look.

"Thanks Aqua."

The young blue-haired teen smiled and hugged her before she left, quietly closing the door. Naminé grabbed a tissue and wiped her nose before heading to the bathroom. She cleaned her face and stared at her reflection. She felt as if a weight in her heart was lifted and she found it easier to smile without any trace of sadness.

_'Im not alone,'_ she thought. _'It's time I break my walls down and trust everyone. Just like Roxas.'_

With one last look, she exited the bathroom and walked downstairs, happily greeting her family as she sat down next to Aqua. Everyone greeted her as well, surprised but glad that she was interacting with them more than before.

**Thursday: September 22**

"Make sure you're free Saturday. We're going bowling and watching a movie at our place!"

"At what time and what movie?" Sora asked.

"From two to five and whichever movie that we have or you can bring one. But before we come to my place, we're going to pass by the store and buy whatever we want. We're all pitching in for pizza too. Right Riku?"

"Sorry, Kairi. Not this time."

Riku smirked at Xion, receiving a glare from the raven-haired girl. She turned around and punched Roxas on the head.

"Ow, what was that for?!"

"For getting into a fight and not being there for our team."

"It's not my fault!" Roxas told Xion grumpily. "As if detention wasn't enough, I'm grounded too."

"You can't come?" Kairi asked.

"Only if Vanitas goes, but he'll go as long as I pay for him."

"Glad I'm not the only one paying for someone else," Xion grumbled.

Kairi patted her sister's hand before saying, "Roxas, tell Axel too."

The group turned around and stared at Kairi. Sora placed down his food and rested his hand on her forehead.

"Sora, what are you doing?"

"Are you ok? You want Axel to come along and you-"

"We're uneven if Vanitas comes," Kairi explained as she stood up, ignoring Xion's suspicious stare. "Aqua, will you go with me to buy something to drink?"

"Yea, of course."

Kairi talked normally to Aqua until they got to the vending machine. As she leaned down to get her drink, she looked around to make sure that none of their friends followed them.

"You aren't taking Naminé home again without letting us know," Kairi said queitly. "We don't want a repeat of last Friday."

"I won't. I thought she told someone about us leaving," Aqua responded as they walked back to the table in a slow pace.

"I thought so too. I'm still wondering why she left." Aqua shrugged in response, wondering the same thing. Naminé couldn't explain it herself when she asked her about it the next day. "But I never seen Roxas so worried before."

"Me either, but everything's fine. See?"

Kairi stared at Roxas and Naminé, who were laughing and sharing their food with one another. She sighed but smiled, glad that they were getting along. The bell rang ten minutes later and everyone started to gather up their stuff. Since Hayner was walking Olette to her class, Naminé and Roxas left together first, waving goodbye to the group as they left.

"Is it just me…"

"… or do they seem different than usual?"

"Sora, Ven. What are you guys talking?" Terra asked, annoyed when the brothers talked this way.

"Yesterday, Roxas was in a really good mood when he got home. And Naminé was happier than usual this morning."

"She was also talking to us more during our lab. Roxas made us breakfast, and it wasn't even his turn."

Everyone turned to look at the blondes direction until they lost sight of them in the crowd. Olette quickly grabbed Hayner's hand and Pence's arm and left with a fast goodbye. Aqua dragged Terra and Ventus away and mumbled something about her car. Kairi glared at Sora and left without a word, leaving a confused Sora to follow her.

"Is it just me or is Sora becoming less of an idiot?" Riku asked Xion.

"Riku," Xion said, shaking her head. "Don't let Kairi hear you say that."

He chuckled in response and grabbed his backpack. They walked together to their next class, wondering if Sora would become aware of a certain someone's feelings for him.

* * *

_**So did Naminé leave with someone at the party or by herself?**_

**She left with Aqua as stated in this chapter. Why she left will be explained later when her friendship with Roxas evolves more.**

_**If she did leave with someone is he/she a treat to RukoNami pairing?**_

**That person is becoming aware of RukoNami and will be considered family to Naminé.**

_**Why was Seifer picking on Roxas?**_

**That will be explained in a future chapter but as stated in the last chapter, the whole school knows his reputation because he's the school bully.**

**Anymore questions, please ask!**

**Next chapter, the group will be separated into teams of two and watch a one or two movies after. **

**If you have any recommendations/suggestions, such as what movie they should watch or who would you like to read be teamed up, go ahead and comment.**

**The table and why it's colored the way it is (black with blue streaks) that was mentioned in chapter 1 will be mentioned next chapter or in the future but everything will be explained. I promise!**


	9. Shuffling the Cards

**The way the teams were chosen were from 'Guest.'**

**The opponents are the order they are listed in the story such as:**

**Team 1: leader, teammate 1, teammate 2,…**

**vs.**

**Team 2: leader, opponent 1, opponent 2,…**

**Hope it make sense…**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter 9: Shuffling the Cards**

**Saturday: September 24**

"Sora, wake up!"

The young brunet groaned and pulled the covers over his head. He turned his back to the intruder, hoping he would get the message.

Ventus sighed and yelled, "Kairi, Sora wants to talk to you!"

Sora immediately got up but tumbled out of his bed. He quickly got himself up from the floor and ran to his door, glaring at Ventus as he locked it. The older boy laughed and opened the window, letting the noon wind inside.

"She isn't here. But since you're up already, get dress. Mom's making us something to eat before we head out."

Sora unlocked the door and sat down in relief. Ventus smirked and picked him up, throwing him on his bed before running out of the room. Sora grumbled something incoherently but laughed soon after. He got up again and locked his door, making sure that they wouldn't take any embarrassing pictures of him as he got dressed.

_'Not this time.'_

_**Two hours later**_

"Can't you drive any faster Ven?"

"If you want to pay for the gas, then I will. Oh, and the speeding ticket too," Ventus added.

Sora angrily sighed and leaned back on his seat. Roxas didn't blame him for pressuring Ventus to drive faster. They were fifteen minutes late and they didn't want to get yelled at by a certain red-head.

"I'll drive."

Without any protest, Ventus immediately parked and traded with Vanitas. He quickly put on his seatbelt before the young raven-haired man speeded away. From the passenger side mirror, he was able to see Sora's terrified face and couldn't help to smirk although he was scared himself.

"There's Ven's car," Aqua said, catching the attention from everyone who was already there. "But…"

"But what Aqua?" Terra asked.

Aqua shook her head and waited for everyone to see what she spotted. Everyone but Naminé grimaced as they saw the person driving, pleading that no police cars were following them. After a few intense minutes of looking at the street, they focused their attention on the four teenage boys walking towards them. Kairi didn't bother to scold them on their tardiness when she saw Sora's colorless face.

_'I bet it was him that complained of Ven's driving,'_ Kairi thought, shaking her head as she placed her phone into her bag. Naminé quickly approached Roxas and gave him a water bottle to prevent him from collapsing. Aqua did the same to Ventus, but he refused and gave his drink to Vanitas, who gave it to Sora. Sora graciously accepted, receiving a semi-smile from the older boy.

_'Probably because I gave him an opportunity to drive… or to kill us,_' Sora thought, drinking the water quickly.

"Pick me up next time," Sora whispered to Terra, who chuckled and nodded in response.

They all went inside as they talked to one another. They quickly paid and walked to the last two lanes of the bowling alley. As they switched their regular shoes to the bowling ones, Kairi took out a small plastic bag with small crumpled up pieces of paper.

"Listen up everyone. We'll be splitting up into teams of two. I'll take out two pieces of paper and they'll be our team leaders. They'll grab the remaining pieces of paper to determine the teams."

Everybody nodded, glad that they didn't have to choose teams. They always took half the time deciding who would be the leaders and who would be in each team.

"Alright so team leaders are…" Kairi took out two pieces of folded paper and opened them. "Vanitas and… Axel. Vanitas, your name came out first so you go."

Vanitas got up and took the bag from Kairi. He grabbed a piece of paper and opened it lazily.

"Xion."

She got up and stood next him. He passed the bag to Axel, who did the same thing.

"Riku."

He smirked at Xion before walking to Axel. They continued the process until everyone was in a team.

"If someone cheats, they're paying for the pizza and whatever else we order," Kairi said as she typed everyone's name into the computers.

Vanitas rolled his eyes but agreed, not wanting to pay for everyone else and be grounded if he left Roxas by himself. He turned his attention to his team and glared at them, sending the message: Win or else.

His team consisted of Xion, Naminé, Sora, Aqua, Hayner, and Pence.

Riku, Roxas, Kairi, Ventus, Terra, and Olette were in Axel's team. They all shook hands with their opponents and began bowling.

Vanitas and Axel went first, each scoring a strike in their turn. Xion and Riku went up next, Riku scoring a strike and Xion a spare. Naminé slowly got up from her seat and walked towards the bowling balls, too nervous to pick one up. Sensing Vanitas' impatience, Hayner and Pence quickly approached her before he could reach her.

"Are you ok?" Pence asked as Hayner grabbed her the right bowling ball.

"Yea, I just don't want to fail the team."

"Don't worry. Even if you do mess up, we'll make up your score," Hayner replied, handing her the bowling ball with a smile.

Pence shook his head and said, "What he means is, that you'll do fine. Just take your time and you'll knock a few pins down."

Naminé smiled and thanked them before walking to her lane, sending a reassuring nod to Roxas. Roxas was able to knock seven pins down while Naminé knocked down all of them. Everyone was surprised by the score, even Vanitas showed some amusement by the results.

"Have you ever bowled before?" Hayner asked as Sora stood up for his turn.

"Just once in elementary school for a class fieldtrip. I didn't know how, so someone taught me before we went. Thanks to him, we were able to win for our team."

She smiled fondly at the memory, but frowned when she thought about his unexpected transformation. She pushed these thoughts out of her mind and focused her attention to Aqua and Ventus. Throughout the game, Hayner and Sora talked about the different maneuvers they could use to widen the score, receiving a glare from Kairi and Axel. After they finished two games, they decided to take a quick ten minute break. Vanitas dragged Roxas to the food court, quickly followed by Sora and Pence. Kairi and Axel were quietly talking to one another, ignoring the suspicious looks from Aqua and Xion. The rest were joking and talking with one another, glad that they were finally able to do something together.

"What time is it?"

They looked at the screen and read '3:25'. They continued talking until everyone returned five minutes later. They continued to play two more games, Axel's team quickly catching up to Vanitas'.

"What do we do now?" Sora asked as he stared at the score sheet, frustrated that the teams were in a tie.

"Two against two," Axel responded. "The team leaders and one player from each team. We bowl once and add the scores together. If it's a tie again, then we play one more round."

Vanitas got up and grabbed Naminé by the arm. Too shocked to fight back, she let him lead him to the lane. Axel shook his head but smirked. _'Just like planned,' _he thought as he chose Roxas. Vanitas and Axel scored a strike once more. They glared at one another before sitting down as Naminé nervously placed herself in front of the lane. Roxas was nervous as well, unsure whether he should let the blonde win to make her feel good or win for their team to satisfy both red-heads competitive nature. They bowled at the same time, Roxas knocking down six and leaving three on the left and one on the right. Naminé knocked down eight pins, but it resulted in a split.

Her team held their breath as she grabbed her bowling ball. Roxas bowled first, knocking down three pins except for one. Naminé took a deep breath before releasing her ball. As if the world slowed down, everyone watched as the ball rolled and knocked down one pin. The pin bounced and collided with the second pin. It tipped for a few seconds before falling down.

"She… she did it… she did it!" Sora yelled, running to Naminé and hugging her tightly.

Except for Vanitas, the rest of the team ran to her and hugged her as well. Sora and Hayner lifted her up and spun her around for a few minutes, her laughter catching the manager's attention. He told them to keep it down, although he was smiling himself. As she tried to balance herself, Vanitas patted her once on the back before heading outside.

"At least she has his respect," Kairi told Axel quietly before approaching Naminé.

He nodded, surprised by the turn of events. _'At least he can be supportive of them… or knock some sense into Roxas,'_ Axel thought as he sat down and switched to his regular shoes. Roxas sat down next to him but he didn't say a word. Pretending to have a hard time tying his shoelaces, Axel sneakily glanced up at Roxas. He saw that the young blond was smiling, a relieved and satisfied look in his eyes.

_'Did he let her win?'_

"Roxas, Axel. We're leaving," Xion said, catching both of their attentions.

Axel finished tying his shoes as Roxas quickly changed to his regular shoes, avoiding any eye contact with the red-head. The trio walked to the front desk and turned in their shoes and bowling ball.

"So what do we win?" Sora asked enthusiastically as they walked outside.

"A drink and ice cream," Kairi said, annoyed and amused at the same time. "We can buy our snacks at the supermarket across the street."

"The last one there gets to clean up the mess!" Sora yelled, oblivious to the devious looks Ventus and Roxas gave to one another.

Before he could get a head start, Roxas and Ventus grabbed him from the waist and arms. They motioned everyone to start running except for Vanitas.

"Ven, Roxas, let me go!" Sora yelled as he struggled to break free from their grip.

"I'll do your chores for two weeks," Ventus said.

"And I'll cook your part for a month," Roxas added.

"I get to drive home," Vanitas replied.

Both blondes looked at one another and agreed, quickly handing Sora to the older boy. They sent Sora a quick smile before taking off. Knowing he lost the challenge, he didn't struggle against Vanitas' grip as they walked in their own pace to the store.

"Cheer up loser. At least you get to spend more time with your loud-mouth girlfriend after this is over."

Sora spluttered and almost tripped. He regained his balance and said, "She's not my girlfriend. And she's not a loud-mouth either."

Vanitas snorted in response. He then smacked Sora with his free hand and walked faster. "I don't like liars. Now hurry up. The less I have to babysit and hear you protect your girl, the better it is for me."

Knowing he won't win this argument, he rolled his eyes but sped up. As they were about to enter the supermarket, Vanitas let him go and entered first. Sora quickly followed and headed straight to the ice cream section. He saw Pence with a half-full shopping cart alongside Naminé, both laughing as they reached for their own ice cream. As Sora approached them, Kairi and Axel secretively exited the store.

"You aren't going to hurt her like you did with Xion. I won't forgive you this time."

Axel sighed and said, "I know. I didn't think things would turn out the way they did. But this time, it's different."

"For your sake, it better be."

"I bet _you_ even notice the chemistry they have with one another. Otherwise, you wouldn't have gone along with our little plan."

Kairi huffed in annoyance but didn't argue with him. She _has_ noticed the way they acted with one another, but it still amazed her that Roxas was the one who was breaking down Naminé's walls. She turned her back to Axel, debating whether to tell him the reason she invited him in the first place.

_'It's too soon. We don't want scare Naminé by doing something rash._'

"Don't do anything stupid. We can't afford Naminé closing up on us. It'll probably hurt Roxas more than any of us."

Axel silently agreed, relieved that she was being considerate about his friend. "I won't. I'll give them a few more weeks until I put my plan into motion. Besides, I think you have enough to worry about with your spiky-headed friend. I could help you with that too."

"That's none of your business!" Kairi said, turning around to face Axel. "Just run some things through me first. I know her more than you do and you know Roxas more than I do. They need to be in the same level."

"Right."

With nothing else to say, Kairi entered the store, soon followed by Axel. Axel spotted Roxas and walked towards him, placing his arm over the blonde with a sympathetic smile. Glad that Axel wasn't mad at him for losing, Roxas relaxed and walked with him to the snack aisle. Half an hour later, everyone paid for their food and headed to the cars to drive over to the twin's house. Ventus and Terra raced to the house but Aqua refused to take part in it; she didn't want to risk her license and the girls' lives.

"Looks like Terra won," Aqua stated as she got out of the car.

The girls saw Ventus pouting and accusing Terra of cheating. They shook their head but laughed, glad that nobody got hurt. Kairi unlocked the door and let everyone inside, quickly turning on the lights and locking the door.

"Are your parents home?" Riku asked Xion.

"No, they went to a business dinner. They aren't coming home until later tonight."

"That's great!" Axel said, wrapping his arms over Riku and Xion. "I know somewhere where we can get-"

"No."

"Kairi, come on. It'll loosen you up."

"I have another way to loosen myself up," Kairi replied as she raised her fist, ready to swing at any moment.

"Kairi," Xion sighed, "calm down. Axel, you too."

"Yea, come on you two," Sora chimed in. "Let's order already. I'm hungry!"

Kairi shook her head but relaxed, taking out her phone and ordering the usual. Everyone settled down in the living room as Xion and Riku brought out ice and cups in case anyone needed them. Xion then brought out blankets and pillows for those who were in the floor, settling in between Axel and Riku.

"What movies do you have?" Hayner asked.

Kairi handed him and Pence a stack of movies, ranging between romance and action. They separated the movies into two stacks, the ones they would see and the ones they didn't want to see at all, which maintained all the romance movies.

"Did anyone else brought a movie?"

"We did," Ventus said, pointing at himself and Vanitas.

He reached into his plastic bag and handed Kairi the box.

"Insidious?"

"Come on Kairi, it won't be that bad," Hayner said.

"Besides, you have Sora to hold on to when you get scared. He won't mind," Roxas added, sending a wink to his cousin.

Everyone agreed and where pressuring Kairi to let them watch it. She sent a last pleading look to Naminé, who was gently coaxing her to play the movie until their order arrived. Kairi finally agreed to the compromise and sat next to Sora, where they coincidentally saved her seat.

Throughout the movie, there where gasps and squeals from the group and occasionally evil chuckles from Vanitas. Olette was holding onto Hayner's hand and Kairi closed the gap between her and Sora, grabbing his wrist and arm when she got scared. An hour into the movie, the door bell echoed throughout the house, causing the girls to scream and the guys to quickly stand up in alarm. Vanitas, who didn't stand up with the guys, coolly walked to the door and opened it. He came back into the living room carrying three large pizzas, two boxes of wings, and a box of cinnamon sticks.

"Pay $32.25 and tip," Vanitas said, opening a pizza box and taking a slice.

Everyone recovered and took out their change, handing it to Kairi to count it and deliver it as Naminé and Xion went to the kitchen to retrieve napkins and plates. Except for Roxas and Hayner, the boys immediately reached for a plate and served themselves food. Once the boys were done, both blondes let the girls go first before them, Hayner receiving a kiss from Olette and Roxas a curious smile from Aqua, Xion, and Kairi and a grateful one from Naminé. Aqua then replaced the movie to an action/comedy and everyone settled down. Vanitas fell asleep halfway through the movie, claiming that it was pointless before closing his eyes. By the end of the movie, only Sora, Kairi, Naminé, Roxas, and Pence stayed awake.

"What a mess," Sora said sadly.

"Don't worry. I'll help," Naminé replied as she stood up.

"NO!"

"Shut up," Vanitas growled unexpectedly.

All five flinched and remained still for a few minutes, making sure that he has fallen asleep again. Sora then glared at Kairi and Roxas before heading to the kitchen to grab a trash bag. Naminé sent them a confused look, wondering why they didn't let her help Sora.

"Whenever there's a punishment, we can't help out," Kairi whispered.

"You'll get a worse punishment or you're going to have to pay for everyone whenever we go out," Roxas added.

"Why?"

"Because then it wouldn't be a punishment," Pence reasoned. "Not that we wouldn't want to help, but those are the rules."

Naminé nodded and sat back down next to Roxas. They quietly talked to one another for about an hour until Sora was done cleaning the living room. He sighed and laid down on the floor, Kairi gently patting his head.

"Ugh, what time is it?" Xion asked as rubbed her eyes.

"It's eleven forty-two," Kairi responded. "Time to wake them up. Dad would get a heart attack if the guys slept over."

The girls nodded and gently woke everyone up. Vanitas took the keys from Ventus, who was silently pleading they would make it home safely. The boys said their goodbyes to the girls and quickly left to get a better sleep in their beds. Kairi locked the door once more and settled herself on the couch, falling asleep soon after. Aqua, Olette, and Naminé settled themselves on the floor, soon joined by Xion once she placed a blanket over her sister. They said goodnight to one another, Xion and Aqua quickly falling asleep within seconds.

"Did you enjoy yourself?" Olette whispered.

"Yea, I did. I had a fun time with everyone."

"I'm glad you did Naminé. But next time, we better be in the same team."

"As long as Vanitas doesn't drag me away first."

They both giggled and quietly talked with one another until Olette fell into her own slumber. Naminé closed her eyes but her mind kept replaying the events of earlier. She got up and quietly walked to the kitchen to get a cup of water, hoping it would help her body and mind relax. As she was finally falling asleep, she heard her phone vibrate.

_'Made it home safe! I hope you had a fun time today… and sorry if I woke you up! Goodnight -R'_

_'I'm glad you did and I'll make sure to tell the girls! And I had a great time… Goodnight -N'_

She smiled and closed her phone, slowly closing her eyes as she remembered her conversations with Roxas. The warmth that she felt next to him made her feel confident as she bowled and safe as they watched_ Insidious_. Finally being able to relax once more, she dozed off as she thought about her friends… and a certain blue-eyed blonde.

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**Sorry about the fast ending!**

**This won't be their first outing together and there will be more moments between Roxas and Naminé.**

**Thank you to all of you who have favorite, follow, and reviewed! I really appreciate it very much so thank you!**

**Any recommendations of anything you might want to read in the next few chapters go ahead and comment.**

**Next chapter: Some information about Seifer and the green-eyed monster makes a small appearance.****  
**


	10. Three of a Kind

**This chapter is a little more straight-forward and shorter than the others. Sorry about that! **

**The reason the table is colored the way it is (black with light blue streaks) as mentioned in chapter 1 will be explained in this chapter… finally! But it will be explained in a little more detail later.**

**Enjoy!**

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**Chapter 10: Three of a Kind**

**Tuesday: September 27**

It still amazed Naminé how a five-feet long table managed to seat twelve people. Then again, some sat on top of the table, or in Olette's case, on Hayner's lap. The oak tree by the table would be a good spot to sit down by, but with the cold weather, the ground wasn't a comfortable spot until winter passed. Occasionally, however, there would be free space whenever someone went to the library to finish, or start, their homework during lunch. But today, as well for yesterday and for the whole week, Axel joined their lunch group.

Roxas and Xion explained to her that once a month for a week, Axel joined them during lunch because he wanted to spend some time with them or to escape his group of friends. However, his explanation for hanging out with them this week was different.

"Seifer's back," Axel said casually.

"He's been back since yesterday," Xion replied. "Why are you mentioning it right now?"

"Can't let Roxas alone this week. We don't want him getting into trouble again, right Roxy?"

"I wasn't the one looking for a fight. And don't call me that!" Roxas yelled out.

Naminé, who was sitting next to him, giggled at Roxas' expression. He gently pushed her with his arm in an effort to cover up his embarrassment.

"Oh, Naminé! How do you know Seifer? Did you hear about him in one of your classes?" Ventus asked, remembering how she was able to recognize him.

"Um…"

She look towards Hayner, Pence, and Olette. Both boys shrugged while Olette gave her a knowing look, making the blonde girl a little nervous.

"Remember how Roxas met Seifer?" Olette asked the group. They nodded and urged her to continue. "That's how we met Seifer in the middle of our seventh grade. Luckily for us, he didn't bother us whenever Naminé was with us. But when she wasn't with us, he wouldn't hesitate to come up to us, especially to Hayner."

"He must really hate it when people bump into him," Sora said, remembering how an accidental bump escalated to a rivalry between Roxas and Seifer during the last few months of their freshman year.

"What do you mean when Naminé was with you?" Kairi asked, ignoring Sora's statement.

"Seifer has a soft spot for her," Olette responded, quickly glancing at Roxas before shifting her gaze to Naminé.

"Wait, what?!" Kairi exclaimed as everyone looked at Naminé for an explanation.

"Well… he was my first and only friend in elementary school before he transferred to another school. Whenever someone would make fun of me, Seifer would defend me and he would always try to make me feel better. He was the one who taught me how to bowl," Naminé finished quietly, a small blush appearing on her cheeks.

"The way you're talking about him makes it sounds like you had a crush on him," Aqua teased.

However, Naminé's blush deepened as she tried to look away from the group. Other than Olette and Riku, everyone had a different expression on their face. The ones who were most in shock were Hayner and Roxas, who tried to keep his emotions in control since he didn't want to give Axel any wrong ideas.

"Do you like him?" Hayner asked a little too harshly.

"No she doesn't," Olette answered as she smacked Hayner on the head. "It was elementary school and it's only reasonable for her to have a crush on someone who was there for her."

"You knew?" Pence asked, a little surprised that Olette kept this a secret from them.

"And you never told us?"

"I knew you were going to react this way. Especially you, Hayner."

Naminé intervened before Hayner could respond back. "Don't worry, I don't. I was happy to see him, but when I saw how much he changed, I didn't like that. It's difficult to be friends with someone who's harassing your other friends. It's also hard when they're going after other people too."

"We understand," Terra said, silently reminding her about Vanitas.

"But now, you have us to be there for you," Ventus added, sending her a warm smile.

Everyone agreed, Roxas placing a firm but gentle hand on Naminé's shoulder to show his support. She smiled and thanked everyone, happy that she had support from many people.

"I still can't imagine Seifer being _nice_," Sora voiced out, as if that was the only thing that grabbed his attention.

Kairi and Xion shook their heads but they laughed along with everyone else. They all soon continued on with their lunch, occasionally intervening between Axel and Kairi's arguments. Although the spiky red-head had his eyes on his opponent, he noticed the closed gap between Roxas and Naminé.

**Friday: September 30**

"Roxas!"

"Huh?"

"I've be-never mind," Axel said as he shook his head. He then got an idea to shake Roxas up a bit. "Who knew Naminé was into guys like Seifer."

"She's not," Roxas responded rather grumpily. "She only liked him because he's the total opposite of what he's now."

"Are you sure? What if he finds out she's here? I'm sure he wouldn't hesitate to make her his girlfriend. And maybe she'll say yes if she believes she can change him to how he was in elementary school," Axel said casually.

"Naminé isn't like that and she said she didn't like him. Besides I won't let him-let him fool her he changed," Roxas finished lamely.

"Do you like her?"

"Just as friends."

"Are you jealous?"

"What?!" Roxas yelled out, looking around to make sure no one was close by.

"Are. You. Jealous," Axel repeated, a twinkle in his eyes.

"No. Of course not. I just wouldn't want to see her with a jerk like Seifer."

"And who would you like to see her with?"

"Someone li-" Roxas quickly cut himself off and sped up. He didn't turn around as he felt Axel picking up his pace to catch up to him.

"Someone like who, _Roxas_?" Axel emphasized, wrapping his arm over Roxas so he wouldn't walk away.

Roxas tried to escape from Axel's grip to avoid answering. The red-head tighten his grip, creating the excuse for Roxas that his flushed face was from Axel's strong grip than from his question.

Knowing he wouldn't be released anytime soon, Roxas sighed and said, "Someone like… like Ven or Sora. Well, maybe not Sora. I don't think Kairi would be fine with that."

Axel chuckled and nodded, imaging Kairi's reaction if Sora and Naminé became a couple. _'That would destroy my plans.'_

"What about you? You're a good fit for her."

"I'm not a jerk like Seifer, but I'm no angel either."

"You didn't start those fights with Seifer and his gang."

"Yea, that explains all the detentions," Roxas responded sarcastically. "But I was kicked off the struggle team for vandalizing school property. I saw the way she looked at the table the first week of school. I'll surprised if she doesn't know why it's colored that way."

"I didn't think you and Xion would get caught. We should've found a different way of celebrating you two being in the Organization for a year. Besides, I offered to take the full blame for it."

"I know, but I couldn't let you do that. If we had to protect anyone, it's Xion. Her parents wouldn't let her see us anymore."

"Yea," Axel agreed as he loosened his grip. "Luckily for us, the principal enjoys sea-salt ice cream as much as we do. Those blue steaks Xion added saved us. If we left the table all black to represent the Organization, things wouldn't have turned out so good."

"Well, the table _is_ the best spot in the quad so we had to show who it belonged to. And we had to represent our friendship someway, even if it was blue streaks representing sea-salt ice cream."

Axel laughed, amazed that a simple color and ice-cream could get them out of so much trouble. It wouldn't be easy explaining to his parents the reason he was painting a table certain colors.

"You're a good guy," Axel said sincerely. "Only because you had your fair share of trouble doesn't make you a bad person."

Roxas smiled but didn't continue on with the conversation. He appreciated the compliment but he was using this opportunity to stop Axel from saying anything else embarrassing. They walked in silence until they arrived to school ten minutes later.

"Axel, you can let me go now. We're here."

"Oh, right."

He gently released Roxas and they both walked towards the cafeteria to get their breakfast.

"Saix is making you get his breakfast again?"

"Yea. I don't want to get paired up with Larxene or Xigbar for any projects next month."

Axel nodded in understanding, knowing October was a busy month for the Organization. With Halloween coming up, he knew it was the time when they would work with the same person for a large project until that event passed.

Once they got their breakfast, they headed towards their meeting spot. Axel soon spotted Kairi, Naminé, and Pence at the table talking with one another.

"Are you going over there?"

"No. I want to deliver Saix breakfast warm," Roxas responded, but he kept his eyes on the group as they kept walking.

_'If he could only admit it to himself that he likes her, this would be easier,' _Axel thought. He didn't want to push Roxas any further, but at least he had his answer if he liked Naminé. Now if there was a way to bring out his jealousy even more with Seifer around Naminé without causing any trouble, he could smoothly set his plan into action.

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**Seifer will make an appearance in two or three chapters. Naminé doesn't like Seifer, it was only an elementary school crush... I promise.**

**Xion and Kairi didn't tell Naminé about the table, since Kairi felt that either of the trio should tell him (and she forgot since she had other things to think about)and they both feel Roxas should tell her about it... which will be expanded in another chapter.**

**What Organization XIII does will be explained rather vaguely and their projects for October will be revealed in a Halloween chapter.**

**Review, write what you think and any suggestions, go ahead.**

**Thank you and hope to upload soon!**


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